Love, Red vs Blue Style II
by BIG Z1776
Summary: Here we are once again. The long awaited Sequel to the popular story Love, Red vs Blue Style is here. It has been a few months since the Reds and Blues finished their hazardous mission to arrest the Director, and they are now back where they belong, together. The Reds, Blues, and Freelancers of the group have arrived at their new base, and are ready to start their whole new journey
1. Chapter 1

**BIG Z: Backed by popular demand here is the next addition to my Red vs Blue AU. This story will be like Relocated, it's a quick short where the Reds and Blues and their Freelancer companions are adjusting to life in their new base and laying out the groundwork for their next big adventure.**

**Athens (June F. bitches): AND I'M BACK BITCHES! YES! After a forever long, annoying, crap-filled hiatus from the entire internet itself….I have risen from the dead to continue writing! Thank god I did, I was going insane….**

**Everyone: June?**

**Athens: Yep, just a change in name and looks, but it's still me!**

**Big Z: Explanation later, let move on!**

**Love, Red vs Blue Style II**

Chapter 1

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/8/2570

1900 Hours

Red Team

The small transport ship shuddered as its massive air lock connected with the truly titanic space station that the Reds and Blues had been pretty much given. The whole group sat inside their vehicles, waiting to go into the massive loading bay of the large satellite that had been designated as their drop off point. After a grueling and tense three week voyage they had finally managed to make it in one piece. Their whole teams had been able to visit homes they hadn't seen in years, reunite with families they had not heard from in months, and had finally been able to at least feel human. But here they were again, ready to return to the way they had always done things and be able to get back into the classic rhythm of the classic battle between red and Blue.

"Well, I guess this'll be home," Carmen was the first to speak, sitting in the trunk of the Warthog right behind Sarge next to Simmons and Lisa.

"I guess so," Sarge replied, all too eager to put his own little plan in action.

"I wonder if this place is anything like Ridgeline?" Lisa asked as the Reds started up their vehicles. The two Freelancers siding with Red Team, Hawaii and Alaska, hopped onto their Mongoose and started it up, and got ready to go.

"Why?" Liz asked from next to Kate and Donut as they sat on Monty with Lopez on the machine gun.

"Because that place was probably better than any other base we could have gone to," Lisa replied defensively.

"How?" Kate responded, "That place was so humid my hair grew a mind of its own! I had to spend most of my time keeping it in place."

"And it was cold as Hell at night!" Liz added on, "Remember when the base locked itself down and we had to spend the night outside?! That was fucking Hell!"

"Wait, the base locked itself down?" Simmons put in, a bit curious.

"It's a long story mate," Monty responded. But as they were about to speak the group began to hear the hissing of the air lock beginning to open.

The other Reds looked around at the doors that stretched upwards above them by about twenty feet or so and settled in for the ride into the cavernous satellite that would soon be their new home. The doors opened and revealed the large empty bay of the Plentiful. An Agro VI class Agriculture Satellite. There were dozens of the things in orbit around the planet they now found themselves at and large bulky automated cargo ships traversed the system daily to pick up the massive cargoes of produce, wheat, milk, beef, chicken, eggs, and even honey from what they had been told in a basic briefing that had been assembled into readable format at the last instant. The whole place was ten kilometers in diameter with different climate zones for different plants and crops to grow. Artificial rain showers fed the diverse ecosystems contained in the domed satellites once or twice a week at least in some of the areas a daily rain shower kept the plants well fed along with advanced natural fertilizers that had been the key thing that the domes relied on for rapid germination of crops and produce. Livestock as well was raised here, the file said that chickens, dairy cows, pigs, and even a few fish farms were present ready to be shipped out for slaughter, although that was held back from Doc, Donut, and Caboose. They said that the harvests would be up for grabs as the supply vendors told the Reds and Blues that it would be easier to have them eat what was already there instead of sending food to the teams.

"Move out fellas," Sarge said loudly enough for all the Reds to hear him.

As one the vehicles started rolling forward, eager to get inside and check out the situation. The Blues were right behind them, rolling up in their own set of identical vehicles except for the latest addition to the Blue Team's Warthog, a turret fitted with all-purpose rockets. It was a little something that Rachel had found time to make on the trip to the satellite. And behind them were three vehicles that were completely new to the Reds and Blues yet not within their ownership. A modified transport Warthog painted white with a large red cross on the front and sides for the new team medics, Doc and Doctor Courtney Anderson. But the largest of the vehicles and the most expensive were being towed by a pair of specialized carriers, Vic and 4-7's own Pelicans, assigned for ferrying the Reds and Blues to and from the planet's surface, a planet which, according to their orders, they were supposed to protect as part of its garrison of two UNSC Army Divisions.

But, as if they could have done anything to help if they wanted to. And the planet was well and truly secured and there was nothing to worry about so the Reds and Blues were left to fight it out, amongst each other, just the way they liked it. And Sarge had hatched a new and devious plan aimed at getting the edge on the Blues, a plan which somehow seemed attached to a simple box on the right rear nacelle of Monty's treads.

"Hey Sarge," Grif asked, driving through a tunnel lit up red pointing them in the opposite direction of the Blues, "what's in the box?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you Grif. So I'll tell you."

"Never mind," Grif cut him off quickly.

"You sure, it's a doozy."

"I'm good."

The column of Red vehicles drove for quite a while, moving through the metal interior of the well-worn tunnels used to transport the station's produce to the storage areas in the underside of the domed station. It was strangely quiet, and the Reds started to feel that particular fact gnaw at their nerves immediately.

"Sarge, I don't like this, it's too fucking quiet," Carmen said, looking at the area around them as they quietly traversed their way to a garage that their team's vehicles could be stowed away for a while.

"Aw you lot are just a bunch of sissies. There's nothing to be afraid of."

They pulled into the deserted parking garage of the new Red Base as Sarge finished that sentence and dismounted, all ten of their number were very much eager to look around and see the so called land of milk and honey that lay in the upper levels of the domed structure. But first Sarge wanted to check on his box and told the others to head into their new base and check out the area for anything hostile.

The place was enormous, it was half the size of a football field with several indents into the walls for vehicles to be parked and had several open air workshops complete with vehicle maintenance lifts for anything from their Mongoose and the Warthog to the seventy ton Monty. There were several stairways leading up into an area that had glass windows looking down into the garage but were dark from not being turned on. At the far end of the garage there was a ramp and panel for controlling the actual door that led up into the fauna growing area the satellite was known for. The Reds began lazily walking over to the stairs and walked up, but Carmen noticed Sarge's absence and stopped behind the others as she turned to call Sarge over.

"Sarge, seriously, you coming?" Carmen asked, stopping at the stairs leading up into the living quarters for the team.

"I'll be right there. Wanna do something real quick," Sarge responded, albeit a little suspiciously.

"Okaaay," Carmen responded, placing her Shotgun on her back plate and walked up the stairs to head inside with the rest of the team. Inside she found that the team had turned on the lights and revealed quite a large room with several good sized couches arrayed around a large TV screen. Everything was dusty and neglected, as if someone hadn't been here in years. But it seemed to be pleasant so far. The team immediately started to fan out, taking in the enormous base that had just become theirs. There seemed to be enough rooms for everybody to have their own.

"This place is huge, and really spacious. I still can't believe we get all of this" Liz remarked as she, her sister, Grif and Simmons perused through the living quarters. Lisa jumped into one of the rooms, quickly followed by Simmons. She flopped onto the large bed inside, sending a easy wave of dust up into the air. She hummed in approval, even with the dust, and snuggled into the soft comforters beneath her.

"Dibs on this room, no exceptions. Fuck off Liz~!" Lisa sang at her sister, who watched her from the doorway. She hissed and went to move, only to be stopped by her boyfriend who stood aside her.

"Relax Liz, let's just find another room" Liz sighed in defeat, giving a small smile before leaving with Grif. Simmons though watched in amusement as Lisa giggled into the red bed.

"Having fun there?"

"Yeeeees, it's so soft!" Lisa replied in bliss, and looked at Simmons with the same feeling, "I miss beds…."

"That badly?" Simmons tossed a quick look of confusion before he was retuned a giggle.

"Only for one reason…" Lisa voice slipped into one Simmons somewhat knew. He smiled teasingly and leaned in closer to her.

"And that reason being?"

"This" Lisa wrapped her arms around Simmons neck, tossing him onto the bed and atop her, arms on either side. Simmons let out a small laugh before closing in on her.

"I so knew it" as they locked lips, an all-too known laugh was heard from the doorway. Simmons somehow launched himself from his position and ran after the ever-spying Grif down the hall, leaving Liz in stitches as she laughed her face off and followed. Lisa couldn't help but laugh as she scribbled her name on the doorway in her colors, and went to follow them where they went.

As the foursome went along their crazy way around, Hawaii and Alaska ventured toward the more open parts of the base, pointing out the best places to relax. As Alaska came upon the rooms, she let out a small gasp and ventured inside, taking in the scene that unfolded from the window inside.

Just outside the window was an enormous corn field, the rows upon rows swaying lightly. The ideas of a corn maze rose to her mind instantly. The yellow and green scenery blended perfectly with the stands of trees a hundred yards away. The grove of lemon and lime trees made the seemingly perfect spot even better, the bitter-sweet smell bringing such a sense of peace that Alaska could just lay in here and forget her worries and scars. She couldn't help but let a chocked 'wow' out.

"This is just amazing. Look at it out there! It's just so peaceful, the trees…the smell just…." she couldn't express the feelings she had about it. It was just a reminder of the good times, and Hawaii all but knew too well how it was. He stepped up next to her, taking in the bitter-sweet air, and smiled wide.

"Reminds me of the trees back at my old place" Hawaii whispered. Alaska let out a small gasp, and unconsciously snuggled into Hawaii.

"I remember that. The small little groves somehow grew near your place. Who knew that oranges could do it?" Alaska whispered back. She moved around him to the bed, the soft, oddly white, blanket soft to the touch.

"Ooh, I so have dibs on this room"

"You realize the room next to this has the same view, right?"

"It doesn't matter, that one is for you, no buts" Alaska came up to him once more, pecking his cheek before laying her claim on the room, scribbling her name on hers, and his with black and red marker. They made their claim; now to discover more!

Back at the orange and maroon four, Grif had finally been caught, only due to lack of air and strength to run any more. Liz was still chuckling under her breath and Lisa was smiling in amusement as Simmons proceeded to try to beat up Grif.

"Grif, Simmons, come on, off the floor!" all movement ceased as Carman came up to them, arms crossed in front of her.

"Fine, but I get to at least do _something_ to him later" Simmons groaned, releasing Grif who stood up after him.

"Hey guys, guys!" the group seemed to defuse immedially as Kate and Donut came running up from opposite of their original path.

"This place is great, and….why was Simmons beating up Grif?" Kate asked.

"When isn't he trying to is the question" Donut muttered. Carmen shook her head at the late duo and turned back to Simmons

"We'll see" Carmen whispered, "but anyway, you guys should see this view"

They all followed her finger to one of the most serene sights they saw since Valhalla. Almost right outside the base was a beautifully blue waterfall, at least forty feet tall, white waters roaring above the min a magnificent show of white and a lightshow of blue. It ended in peaceful rapids, tame brown colored rocks littered in the river it fed into. The river flowed peaceful and silent, small fish jumping up and around. Flowers a bountiful was surrounding it as it flowed seemingly around them.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Carmen whispered as the group gaped at the beauty of it.

"Just amazing" Liz whispered in return.

Of course, even with the scenery, further chaos and fractured order came into view once more.

"No one is bunking together," Carmen yelled out, "I don't wanna be hearing what you lot do in your alone time."

"What? Why not?" Kate whimpered.

"It means no creaking beds Kate! Liz that goes double for you. I have enough of you to worry about, the last thing I need is a mini Liz running around."

"Whoa there," Liz responded, "I am not planning on having any kids here. Too much work."

"What? Kids are a blessing sis," Lisa responded.

"Yeah, I want to have kids," Simmons piped up next to Lisa, returning from checking out a closet filled with what appeared to be simple cleaning supplies.

"See?" Kate responded, "Come on Kristine, don't you want kids?"

"Never really thought about it. And don't call me Kristine!" Carmen responded to her subordinate.

As they all continued their argument and exploration of the base above, below Sarge had carried a large box to the door that led into the main chamber of the satellite and opened the box into the chamber. Allowing the thing in the box to sprint out into the green wall of foliage and dark of the now chamber.

He whispered quietly, "Go get 'em boy."

Just as stealthily and mysteriously Sarge closed the box and the door and activated the tracking device that immediately began broadcasting the position of the thing that Sarge had sent off into the main chamber. He kept the door open and walked back to the base to rejoin his squad. Bristling with excitement as he wondered what kind of chaos his plan would sow among the Blues on the other side of the enclosure

"Hey Sarge check this out."

Blue Team

Blue Territory

"Ok guys, I say we spread out around here, claim rooms, relax a bit and regroup here at the center of the base later" Tex put out to the group.

"I have to agree with her there. Let's relax and claim a bit before the shit starts hitting the fan" Jenny said in agreement. Mutters of agreement circled the team, and each couple split off into their own group, each splitting off from one another as the chambers came into view for several of them.

"I got to admit, this is pretty nice" Tex said, breaking the silence between her and Church as the passed various little bits of the base. Mostly small rooms filled with supplies for when they harvest and a few bits of what looked like an armory. Tex of course picked up a pistol on her way by.

"It is. Huge and spacious, plenty of rooms, and free time…" Church lifted his arms behind his neck; a look of something very familiar to Tex crossed his face.

"Implying something much?" both chuckled as they came up to two rooms on their left. They were basically identical in space, but somehow, each one was the two's colors. One black, one cobalt; one with a larger bed then the other, small armor racks, one with an almost full length mirror and one with a small weight-lifting set. When they switched their gaze from the rooms to each other, they shared an easy smile.

"Is Fate being….kind…to us?" Tex said slowly.

"Maybe for once…I saw we take it a fucking run before it slaps us again"

"Agreed, you ass" Tex pecked Church quickly before pulling out a marker from her suit and writing her and Church's names on the doors, and scurrying off, Church playfully chasing her while she threw insults and a few punches at him.

Lea and Tucker had walked into the central housing for the base. Each took one side and sifted through rooms, Lea spotting rooms seemingly quaint and simple, while Tucker found ones for his usual 'tactics', if you can even call them that.

"Score! Found something way better then you could find!" Lea called out as she poked her head out of one room. Tucker abandoned his room and peered into the one Lea found. He blinked surprise as the contents spilled into his memories.

The room was probably the only one with double beds, the beds layered in soft blue hued silk sheets. Two dressers, carpeted in dark blue, and what is this? A pretty box atop their desk nestled into one corner.

"It has a note~" Lea sang as she grabbed for it and read it aloud next to Tucker.

"'_For the next female occupant of the room, we left you something to enjoy yourself when you're alone_'. Huh, it's my box" Lea handed the note to Tucker and opened the box, gasping as she did. Inside rested several rather…small and revealing clothes, probably to be worn at night.

"Shiiiit, whoever left the box, thank you!" Tucker nearly shouted as he peered around Lea's shoulders. Someone just made a blue a very open invitation to be laid.

Rachel, Caboose, Wash, and Jenny, didn't waste time finding their places, claiming rooms easily next to each other and finding all the little spoils somehow. A hidden bar near the exit, which was rather convenient, a cute little carved out area with bean bags and easily resembling somewhere for a date or relaxation, or as Caboose so beautifully put it, 'a place for Sexy time', which Tucker would have been proud of. Rachel was blush the entire way back to the center of the base while Jenny tried to help her distressed teammate

"This is a nice place," was the first place that Jenny said as the group reconvened at the center of the Blue Base.

"Yeah, this place is a Hell of a lot better than the bases we've been at," Tucker responded.

"Really?" Lea said, "Where all have you been?"

"Nowhere as nice as this place that's for sure."

Their new place was indeed nice compared to their last bases. It had a multitude of bedrooms, enough for everyone to have a room to call their own, a kitchen and mess hall complete with all the essentials, a gym complete with weights and an open area that could have been used for anything from wrestling to basketball, and an enclosed media room branching off of the meeting room the Blues were now standing in. It was a veritable paradise, and they had yet to go into the crown jewel of the place, its Green Chamber where the land literally grew everything they needed. From the livestock to the fish, from the beef to the grain, it had it all.

"This place is so awesome," Caboose said, coming up from behind the group, "it has windows!"

"Yes Caboose we noticed that. But you know that the Reds are going to be here in about five minutes guns a blazing right?" Church put in.

"Yeah, unfortunately."

"Might as well check out the places we can defend from. I saw a balcony over past the media room, let's check that out," Sergey put in.

"I'll come with you, that place looks like a great place we can fuck!" Sister put in.

"You have a one track mind don't you?" Lea grumbled as Sister and Sergey walked over to the balcony door and opened it.

Meanwhile Caboose had disappeared and Rachel began searching far and wide for him. She walked through the base nonchalantly trying to find out where the loveable Blue idiot had wandered off to this time. She hoped she'd get to him before he broke something valuable, like life support. But she knew that even Caboose couldn't break something as large as this satellite. But with Caboose anything was a possibility.

But just as she thought those words she heard the lights blinked erratically and she saw the doors open up that led outside into the farmlands beyond. Then the blackness closed in and the lights died. The ghostly Blue glow of the night coupled with the glowing of what appeared to be massive gas giants, ironically colored Red and Blue cast a truly bone chilling glow into the exposed area that Rachel found herself in. She shook her head, knowing that this was Caboose's doing and proceeded to try and find him before he did further damage. She shifted her focus to the shouting going on in the comms as the team began trying to figure out what went wrong.

"What the Hell?" Tex was heard yelling.

"Who shut off the lights?" Wash demanded.

"Not my fault, Tucker did it!"

"Shut up Caboose."

"Ooh, kinky. Sergey wanna act out one of my fantasies?" Sister was heard whispering.

"We heard that Sister and no, don't even think about it."

"Oh I've thought about it since I saw my first horror movie."

Rachel was so absorbed in listening to what was being said on the radio she didn't even notice the dark shape sneaking around outside on all fours, keeping to the bushes or grapevines. When the rustling of the bushes became audible the ears of the young woman perked up and she peered around the corner into the dark, the shiny leaves contrasting with the darkness around them. She walked out into the area, curious, more than anything and took in the sights. A land of milk and honey indeed. Laid out before her was a field of grapevines, beautifully ripening and blowing in the wind. Bees buzzed about the area she stood in, flying off into the vast distances in search of flowers to pollinate so they could create the honey that they loved to make. Beyond the grapevines was a beautiful orchard of apple trees, their flowers in full bloom giving the trees a beautiful light blue glow in the low light. Along with the birds that chirped far off in the distance the place hummed with life and beauty.

"Oh hello Rachel," the cheery voice of Caboose said walking out into the sweet pristine air.

Rachel turned as the glowing red eyes of some unseen animal glared out at her from the depths of the forest of vines. It was at that moment that the entity made its move. Ducking down, it skirted along the edge of the field and then into an open door at the very edge of Caboose's vision.

"What was that?" Caboose questioned, turning as Rachel walked towards him, looking back at the area where the dark shape had ducked into the unseen door.

Rachel cocked her head over to look at the area Caboose had turned and scanned it intently. But just as she was about to walk over and take a look she heard Caboose start to wander off again, this time towards the apple trees. She looked back at the area she thought she had seen something but just shrugged her shoulders and jogged to catch up with Caboose who was almost by now under the dark cover of the apple trees. But as she turned the doors hissed shut and she panicked running over to the doors and seeing the black shape of something fast run past the glass door eyes reflecting a ghostly red. Her heart beat faster, seeing this was something she had not planned on and she pounded on the door to no avail. But when she looked back towards where she had last seen Caboose her heart skipped a beat, he was gone. She started panicking, her heart beating at unbelievable speeds. She needed to find Caboose, but she needed to warn her team mates as well. And this was something she hated, but she had to make a choice. Caboose was all alone out there, and there might have been more of those things out there for all she knew but her team mates at least had each other, Caboose had no one. Turning on her lights she ran through the grapevines and into the dark wilderness.

**Athens: *saves chapter* and done…*sigh* It's been fun…**

**Big: *behind Athens* Want me to explain?**

**Athens: If at all possible. Don't go too depressed though!**

**Big: *sighs* I guess, Everyone, June/Athens and I have decided that this one is up to me. She'll be pursuing her own stories with gusto, one being a Prequel explaining Agent Alaska. The others, well if I told I'd have to kill ya.**

**Athens: It's true, I'm gonna miss doing this. *hugs Big then kisses him on cheek* See ya Big, have fun. Peace out peeps.**

**Big: *chuckles* Classy as always.**

**Next Chapter Preview: The Blues get an unexpected visitor, and it isn't friendly. The Reds go out into the garden, but they forget something and watch what happens next. And where did Caboose go?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Big: Well, here we are. Our first chapter without June. *looks around empty room* It's pretty lonely in here. I guess I'll just have to bring in a few cameos. First I'll need to figure out who they'll be. Anyway, here's the story.**

**Important Message: I just watched a buddy playing MW3 have a run in with a corrupt moderator who banned someone who simply asked if he had the ability to ban. Then he went and muted a kid who asked to ask him a question! What the Fuck is this? I'll tell you what. It's enough for me to start up a campaign to figure who this guy was so that we could report him. But first I'll need some info. Anyone with problems like that please PM me so that I can add that statement to my email to Microsoft, asking that this be investigated. **

Chapter 2

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/8/2570

2000 Hours

"Where the Hell are Caboose and Rachel?" Jenny asked, a bit confused and angry.

"How the Hell should we know?" Lea replied trying to find her helmet which had fallen when the lights had gone off, "Ow, okay, who did that?!"

"What am I touching right now?" Wash asked as he felt around trying to find a light switch.

"That would be my breast plate Wash," Jenny responded, a little pissed but a little flattered at the same time.

"Oh, sorry."

_You shouldn't_, she thought but didn't say.

"Grab your helmets," Tex spoke out, feeling around in the dark, "They've got heat and ultraviolet vision."

"We're having a little trouble with that," Church yelled, tripping on a piece of unseen furniture.

"We can't grab our helmets if we can't see them, right now the only thing anyone has grabbed was Wash getting a good grip on Jenny," Lea grumbled.

"Bow chicka bow wow."

"Tucker you'd better hope you get your helmet before I do because when I do I'm caving in your skull," Wash replied angrily.

It was at that moment that the group heard a single noise that sent chills down their spine. It was quiet at first, then grew louder and louder. The Blues were completely unaware of what this sound was, it was as if nails or claws were scratching on the metal plating under its feet or paws as it approached. But they had no idea where the sound was coming from, it sounded as if it were in their midst.

"What is that?" Church quietly whispered, continuing to try and feel for his helmet.

"Whatever it is it can't be good, we need our helmets, now!" Tex responded further trying to find her helmet.

They all quickly felt around, and finally found their helmets. They quickly snapped them in place and then began scanning the area with their heat vision turned on. They had no clue if they had the right helmets but by the way the helmets smelled they guessed that they probably weren't theirs. But they made do anyway. Trying to figure out what was moving their way they tried grabbing their weapons until they heard the bone chilling sound of growling coming from an adjacent hallway. They all turned and saw the shadow of something big moving their way.

"We should probably get out of here," Tucker breathed.

"How 'bout…NOW?!" Lea yelled breaking into a full sprint and charging out the adjacent hall as the creature came around the corner with teeth barred.

"Wait for me!" Tucker yelled seeing his girlfriend take off. And ran full tilt to catch up without grabbing his weapon.

"Hey! You cowards!" Jenny said, turning to see the forms of Tucker and Lea round the corner.

"It's just a…" Tex said, turning to yell at her team mates.

But just as she did that whatever it was sprinted directly at her, sensing weakness and catapulted itself right into her. Wash saw the heat form slam into Tex and knock her into the counter where her head connected with a sickening _crack._ Her whole body went limp in that moment as the animal stood on top of her, growling loudly at the Blues as its glowing red eyes stared at them in a predatory gaze. Church was the first to try and do something seeing as how Tex seemed to be completely out cold and defenseless. The creature turned and charged straight at him, Church could hear it snapping its jaws at him as he backed up to avoid the creature and get to Tex as Wash and Jenny decided to try and make a grab for her. They snatched her up off the ground and yanked her arms over their shoulders and started to try and get her out of harm's way.

"Church come on!"

"Wait up assholes!" Church yelled as they were about to close the door.

"Then hurry up bitch!" Tucker replied, holding his hand over the door control.

Church ducked as the creature jumped right at him mouth open ready to take a piece of his head with it. He rolled to the ground and ran as the creature landed on a sofa, knocking it over and then rolled to its feet barking furiously in the process. Church attempted to run as fast as possible as the creature got its bearings and charged back after him. Church dove as the door started to close on him and the creature sprinted at him at top speed.

"You assholes!" he yelled as the door slammed shut.

"Hey we didn't want to get eaten," Lea replied as Wash helped Church to his feet.

"But at least that…thing is trapped in there," Jenny said relieved leaning against the bulkhead.

Right on cue they all heard another sound, growling, right behind them.

Rachel

Orchards

The dark seemed almost oppressive as the grass crunched beneath Rachel's feet as she desperately searched the orchards of apple, orange, peach, and other assorted fruit trees trying to find the missing Caboose. She'd been out here for at least half an hour and hadn't found anything but what she might be eating for the next few months. Needless to say she wasn't disappointed, there was everything out here. From her favorites, oranges and cashews, to her least favorite foods; habanero peppers and cinnamon this place had it all. She found herself distracted several times trying to see if a certain field of plants was something she liked and she ended up finding herself lost even more than she had before. She'd crossed several bridges that glowed on the edges a faint green to illuminate themselves. Looking down she saw the pristine waters of winding rivers and the shimmering of fish swimming freely in the current. The glow of the gas giants seemed to cast their glorious red and blue light down onto her as she walked and searched for Caboose.

_This place is the best base ever!_ She thought to herself as she stumbled onto a field of carrots and potatoes. She walked amongst it and saw that there was a set of boot prints. Excited to see just a hint that Caboose was nearby she dropped to knee to take a close look at the prints. Shining her helmet lights onto the nearest print she saw that it was deep, meaning that someone big had made it, also there was a paw print, it was very big, and very much the print of a large predator judging by the claws that seemed to protrude from the toes of the thing. She breathed a sigh of relief that it was going the other way and that it was relatively old in comparison to Caboose's foot print. She looked around just to be safe and saw a path leading in the opposite direction through a stand of large bushes that were bare of any fruit but the sign on the path said "Blueberries."

She got up and trudged off, careful not to step on any of the plants. She ducked under the bushes that overhung their branches into the path and moved carefully forward. She knew this would quite a long night if she didn't find Caboose soon. She could just see him now, trying to eat something he might be allergic to or worse, something trying to eat him!

_Snap out of it!_ She slapped herself on the head, ridiculing herself for letting her imagination get the better of herself. _Caboose is fine,_ she told herself, _if something tries to eat him it'll break its teeth on his armor then he'll probably try adopting it._

She chuckled to herself at the thought of Caboose holding something like a werewolf in his arms like a puppy, asking Church if he could keep it. She shrugged off the pleasant thought of Church yelling like a little girl at this and continued onwards. She found that it was tough going through the path with it going down at an angle that took her deeper into the jungle of food bearing plants. Leaves crunched under her boots and stuck tight from the moist earth underfoot and continued forward, trying not to slip as she made her way down, hopefully towards Caboose.

_Well it could be worse, it could be raining._

Right on cue a sheet of crystal clear water poured down, soaking the area around her in a single second. Rachel looked up at the dome and water pipes on the ceiling and sighed.

_Well played God, well played_.

She stepped forward a little pissed off and forgot to pay attention. This cost her dearly, her foot caught on a root and her momentum threw her forward down the slope. She gasped in surprise and fell, hard. Mud splattered her visor as she slid down the slick slope, smashing into branches, twigs, and roots all along the way. She had absolutely no control over her fall as she tried to gain control over herself by grabbing for the bushes next to her, snapping quite a few small branches or slipping off of the larger ones. She rotated all the way down, ricocheting off of the bushes and slamming into whatever got in her way. Rachel ended up crashing through a brace of sugarcane and fell down a terrace and farther down the slope until she ended up headed right towards another orchard of large trees. She never saw the tree she was sliding right at until her helmet collided with it.

She hit it extremely hard at eleven miles and hour, hard enough for her helmet's visor to crack badly and her lights to flash repeatedly as they fought to stay on. Her body twisted itself as she landed on her back, helmet facing the sky. She saw the HUD on her visor flicker badly and then die out completely as she tried to lift her head. But stars swarmed into her head and her vision immediately blurred. Water pecked at her visor and armor as she lay there motionless, her head resting in fine green grass, The leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer wonderfully as she looked around for where she was, only to see that she was surrounded by more plant life with a darkness all around her, the flickering of her helmet's lights fighting the dark back as best it could.

_Great, this again,_ she thought disdainfully. _Guess I'll just take it easy for a while. Regain my bearings and head out later. Too bad about the helmet though. _

She allowed herself to relax as even thinking hurt at this point. She could hear the small pecking of water drops hitting her armor and her helmet as she waited for the pain in her head to die down. It was so peaceful here, so serene, she smiled to herself thinking about how good of a gig they now had. Looking to her side she the long graceful curves of Bermuda grass scattered with fine water droplets which shined from the beautiful night sky above the trees.

Once the pain had gone she tried to roll over on her belly to push herself up off the deck and then, waves of nausea swept over her, this time however, it didn't subside. She stumbled as she attempted to stand up, and when she took her first step her feet just dragged and she fell flat on her face, directly into a puddle of grass and water. Her helmet's visor leaked profusely, cold water kissed at her face as she felt for the release on it to keep herself from being trapped in a leaky helmet as it continued o flicker its lights in a vain attempt at life. But as she tried so desperately to get it off her vision failed, her limbs went numb and weakened. And she finally fell unconscious.

The rain from the pipes in the domed ceiling never stopped as she lay there completely unconscious from such a bad fall. She'd taken worse of course, her armor had protected her from just about everything that could be thrown at her. But she'd had back up then, and she was safe enough to quickly recover, but not here, not in an area that was more dangerous than it let on. She would just have to wait for help from Caboose, or for her team mates to come looking for her and Caboose once they'd been missed.

But it seemed someone, or something else had found her first. It hovered over her, scanning her damaged armor and then flew off into the dark, uninterested in the hulk of armor and the human inside of it. Floating off, it joined a swarm of its identical counterparts and flew into formation around them as they soared overhead.

Red Team

Red Territory

"Alright men and women, we're going out into the dome."

"Really Sarge?" Grif groaned, "We just got here!"

"And so have the Blues! Which means they're completely unprepared!"

"So are we!" Lisa responded.

"Exactly, which means we have the advantage," Carmen replied smugly.

"No, that means we are both at a disadvantage. Which means we are both evenly unprepared!" Simmons replied, pointing out the flaw in their logic.

"You're making fun of me aren't ya?" Carmen hissed angrily.

"Uh no, I mean yes… or no…I," he paused, not very pleased or comfortable to be the center of such attention.

"Just shutup Simmons," Sarge growled.

"Yes sir."

"Now that settles it. We're headed out on a scouting mission into the domed thingy," Sarge said, "We're pairing up, get with your partners and…"

Sarge was not very surprised to see the other Reds to immediately magnetize towards their opposite number. Grif was with Liz sitting side by side at the row of bar stools, Simmons standing next to Lisa by the balcony entrance, Kate hopped into Donut's arms, Hawaii was with Alaska sitting on the couch next to her. He looked to see that Carmen was within a foot of him on his right side.

"What?" she asked as if something was wrong.

"Oh nothing at all."

"_Finally I get to be with no one to slow me down. What a fucking miracle,"_ Lopez said in joy, although his tone of Spanish voice didn't hint at it.

"Aww, don't worry Lopez you can go with Monty," Kate said, as if trying to make the robot not feel alone.

"_Shit."_

"Now, we'll split up to cover more ground, Grif you and Liz are going to check out Blue Base."

"What?!" Liz yelled, "Are you kidding?!"

"Nope," Sarge replied satisfied.

"Simmons you're going along the walls of the dome to find any buildings we can use as outposts. Maybe some can be useful," Sarge ordered.

"What about us Sarge?" Kate piped up.

"I want you two on the high ground to see what you can find with your rifles."

"And the Freelancers and us will go check out the middle of the area, We'll be in the fields while you two are in the orchards. Maintain radio silence, we never know when the Blues might be waiting in ambush," Sarge warned.

"But if you see a Blue," Carmen said, "you know what to do."

The Reds all walked down the stairs off to their right by the entry hall to their living quarters and started going down the steps. The lights above their heads hummed as the clang of boots resounded throughout the hall as they all began moving on towards the exit. The glass doors hissed open and they all emerged into the beautiful night. The air was a pleasant seventy-eight degrees Fahrenheit and the light misty rain that fell from the ceiling out in the distance made them all very much mystified by the plant life surrounding them. Out in the distance small hills rose every so often and rivers flowed from their peaks in smooth contoured lines. The glow of twin gas planets in red and blue seemed to beautifully illuminate the setting they had found themselves in.

"Quit just standin' there starin' we got Blues to kill…I mean scout," Sarge ordered gruffly, the Reds all snapped on their helmets and started to fan out in pairs.

Grif and Liz went off down a well-lit path that glowed green from the ground level lights that shined down onto the dirt road. Sarge and Carmen went into the patch of lemon and lime trees next to the road on the left while Alaska and Hawaii went towards the lowlands to the right where there were numerous rice paddies, shimmering from the light. Simmons and Lisa went off towards the right, circling around the edge of the base along the metaled walls, staying up off the ground on a catwalk that was above the ground for an easier time moving around. That left Donut and Kate, they both went off to the right, where they saw the highest bit of ground where a group terraces were built up at least fifty feet tall capped off by a stand of trees.

As Grif and Liz were walking down the trail at a relaxed walking pace they couldn't help but look around at the bounty around them. There were flowers of all kinds, from the blossoms of small berries to the immense flowers of more exotic tropical fruits, this place had it all. They could see one another in the gloomy but romantic shade of purple and green that shined down and glinted off of their armor. Grif turned his head to look at her and saw she had taken off her helmet and was carrying it by her side, letting herself sniff the sweet aroma of the air they breathed.

"It's paradise isn't it?" she said dreamily.

"Yep, you said it," he said, slyly picking a mango from a tree above him that overhung the road, laden with the sweet fruit, "Pear?"

"Grif, that's a Mango," she replied cheerfully, "but thank you."

She took the ripened fruit and took a bite, the sweet juices flowed from the chunk that she took out and she wiped the juice from her face and smiled as she savored the tropical fruits flavor. Looking back at Grif she smiled happily, her teeth practically gleaming.

"It's delicious."

"I thought so," he said, reaching over and put his hand on the hand that was held over the helmet. He then traced his fingers up her arm and then to her face, gently brushing aside a loose lock of her dark red hair. She placed her helmet on her rifle and reached for his hand and firmly grasped it. They just walked in silence, helmet's off, hand in hand, enjoying the night, the air, and each other's presence.

"Grif?" she purred as they came to a bridge and stopped to look at the shimmering blue waters.

"Yeah?" Grif cooed from beside her.

"What would you think about a baby?" she asked, very cautious about the subject.

"I wouldn't know what to think why do you ask?" Grif said turning to her, his tone full of curiousity.

"I've been thinking about what Lisa said, how babies are a blessing. And I can't help but wonder, would I be a good mother? Could we raise a kid of our own?" she asked herself more than Grif who pondered this.

"Kids are a lot of work you know, and a lot of hours of sleep lost. We'd have to really think about it if we were to even consider having a kid."

"True, but we have our whole lives to think about that. And we're not even married yet. Boy, I don't know what my mother would say to me having a kid out of wedlock!" she joked.

"I can only imagine," Grif chuckled, seeing the humor of it all.

"Come on, we'd better keep moving," she said walking over the blue lit bridge.

"Why don't we just stay here?"

"Because I want to see what else is out here. You wouldn't let a girl walk alone in the woods would you?" she said seductively, looking at him wither best seductive glare.

"Well, once you put it that way, lead the way."

Off in another part of the domed garden were Hawaii and Alaska, the Red Team's Freelancers. These two were doing much the same thing that the others were doing, walking around, helmets off, and just enjoying life. Alaska's long white hair gently waved in the breeze, as the pair walked around taking in the sights of the wealth of life around them. Indeed everything seemed to be just the way fate had promised when they had reunited on in that hurricane pounded city.

"Hey Alaska, how do you think we found each other? I mean after all this time we had been walking two different paths a galaxy apart and yet he we are, together arm in arm," Hawaii asked, looking at his true love.

"I guess our paths aren't as different as we thought," she responded brushing her hands on a row of vines that hung from terraces above them.

"I guess so, perhaps it was fate," Hawaii replied slyly, whipping her around to be against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, "that brought us here together."

"I've always wondered how you did that," she giggled as they embraced in an emotional kiss.

"Like I said baby, being a surfer has its advantages."

The pair embraced in one another's arms as the brush rustled in the wind. But there was also something else watching them. It scanned Alaska from afar before turning around and zipping away to find the rest of its swarm.

"Come on slowpoke!" Kate giggled running up the hill to win the little race they were having.

"Hey no fair, you had a head start," Donut whined as he ran to catch up to his girlfriend. She zigzagged up the hill, ducking behind trees to look to see if Donut was still right behind her. But once she reached the top of the fifty foot hill she looked down but didn't see Donut at all this time. She came out from behind the tree she was behind and looked around, seeing only the wavy leaves and grasses of the garden beyond. All of it shimmering in the purple light cast by the gas giants and she also saw the shimmering green lighted trails and roads that zigzagged their way around the the dome and the faint blue light of the rivers and streams that fed the plants and animals. But she didn't see the pink armor of Donut anywhere.

"Donut?" she called, more curious than worried at this point, "Donut?!" she repeated, now getting worried about if he had slipped and fell.

"Boo!"

Kate instantly let out an ear piercing scream that seemed to shake the trees above them both.

"Kate, it's just me!" Donut whined as he held his hands over his ears, "Boy you really don't like people sneaking up on you do you?"

"Donut! Don't you ever do that again!" she said loudly and started punching at his chest plate, forcing him backwards towards the edge of the hill.

"Kate calm down calm down, what's with the…whoa!" the two Reds immediately stepped off of the edge of the cliff and started sliding down on top of each other and finally slid right down into a small outcropping that had a single cherry blossom tree in full bloom right above them. The two of them looked up to see the beautiful pedals falling gracefully down towards them and then onto the ground and looked back at each other. Donut reached up and brushed Kate's hair aside as it hung down into her face and smiled at her as she did the same to him. Their world was perfect and Donut made sure to mark this day.

"Hey Kate, watch this," Donut said pulling out a knife and walked to the tree.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Donut took the knife and started scraping a heart into the soft bark of the cherry blossom tree.

"Look," he said carving in a 'D' and a 'K' next to one another, "Now we know that this is our spot."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she replied, picking one of the large flowers from a branch not a few feet from her head.

"Neither would I," Donut replied, placing another flower in her hair above her right ear, the rich pink of the pedals accenting her eyes and her hair beautifully. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips that she returned gently, melding into one another's arms.

They sat down side by side and stared out over the land they had now found themselves in and looked over it from their secluded corner of heaven, pink flower pedals cascading around them from the large tree. The glow of the red and blue twin planets seemed to turn this place into one of true beauty, Donut held his hand over hers as she leaned up against him. Their peace completely, perfect.

Off in the distance they could see the other rising hills with all manner of plant life growing on them, from any number of orchards to fields of grain, or stands of vine type plants. But they also saw something else.

"Hey Donut, what're those?" Kate asked, lifting her head up off of Donut's shoulder.

"What?"

"There," she pointed to the small shapes off in the distance, "see 'em?"

"Yeah, I do, what are those things?"

"Whatever they are they're headed back towards the walls. Birds maybe?" she asked, curious.

"Maybe, I've seen bees, it wouldn't surprise me if there were birds."

"I guess you're right."

Simmons and Lisa were still walking on the catwalk on the walls of the Plentiful's main garden. But they soon found out that they weren't alone. Simmons constantly thought that he was seeing things and their progress slowed quite a lot.

"There it was again!" Simmons groaned loudly, hearing a buzzing sound in the distance, looking out over the field of wheat that they were above.

"Simmons you've said that at least three or four times in the last five minutes, give it a rest. I'm not gonna jump into your arms like a little girl at a horror movie."

Simmons rolled his eyes as he followed Lisa who just kept walking as he scanned the land for the source of the noise. But then it was gone again, without so much as seeing it. So he just tried shoving it to the back of mind but his instincts said that there must be something out there. But he continued to catch up to Lisa as they continued their walk on the metal platform that snaked its way across the walls fifteen feet off the ground.

"So Simmons how far are we going to go? This place is huge, there's no way we can make it all the way around the wall," Lisa said, stopping to look around at the sheer size of the dome.

"How 'bout to that waterfall, from there we can take a break and then decide on what we're doing then?" Simmons suggested pointing at a waterfall that was about three hundred yards away from them.

"Sounds like a plan, maybe there's a building over there we can use."

They walked forward again, switching position this time, with Simmons in the lead as the two Reds made their way towards the roaring waterfall gushing from the side of the dome. It was just like the other waterfall by their base, peaceful, serene and bordered by life in the form of vines of strawberries.

The walkway cut right through the roaring current that the two Reds were resting nearby. They sat there talking away with one another about this and that, what all they thought Sarge or Carmen would do once things began to settle down and what their own plans for the future were.

"Simmons, where do we see ourselves, I mean, where is this relationship going?" Lisa asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer she might hear.

Simmons was quiet, his face a mask of thought as he contemplated what she had asked and what he was going to say. He didn't want to upset her by saying what he wanted to say, which was, _you're the best thing to ever happen to me and I want to marry and have kids together._ But that might make him sound needy and protective, but he was also afraid that she might be thinking the same thing, and wanted to marry him as well.

"I uh was hoping that maybe we'd…get married?" he whimpered, hoping that he wouldn't get a slap on the back of the head for being so up front with her.

She was silent a moment, mostly due to shock from having heard something she never thought a guy would ask her, ever since joining the army all she'd heard was how women had a tough time finding a man that would actually marry a woman soldier. But now that little saying had been blown out of the water, and she started smiling wider and more happily than she had ever before, her stomach seemed to be hosting the gymnastics it was so nervous as she realized the implications of what she wanted and what she now knew Simmons wanted.

"Really?" she asked, "I've been waiting for that for so long that I could just…" she lost her tongue as she trembled with excitement until she simply decided to dive into Simmons.

But Simmons was leaning on the railing overlooking the river, and when the two Reds collided in their embrace they were both sent tumbling over the side. Their armor completely protected them from injury, but their armor wasn't totally sealed, because they had their helmets off, and water poured right onto their heads and hair, leaking under the undersuits. The Red couple was well and truly soaked as they got up out of the shallow water and made it to the rocky shoreline.

Simmons looked at Lisa who had gotten up out of the water and now lay next to him, panting at having fallen from such a height and made it out unscathed.

"Wow, I wonder what your reaction would be if I proposed?"

Out in the middle of the rustling green garden Sarge and Carmen were taking their whole expedition way too seriously. The two Reds ducked from tree to tree and bush to bush in the deepest thickest part of the garden where huge thick bushes of blueberries covered the incoming light from above, leaving only their own lights on their helmets for guidance.

"Hey Sarge," Carmen piped up, "Why are we being so sneaky? I don't think the Blues are even out here."

"Of course they are. This is now a combat zone Corporal," Sarge replied, poking his head around a corner.

"Well I don't think so," Carmen responded, standing straight up and walked out into the open trail.

As Carmen walked towards Sarge the sound of footsteps began to echo Carmen as she walked. She turned around and looked up to see a massive figure. In its hands was an Assault Rifle held harmlessly in both hands with its head cocked to the side.

"Hello Red lady," the childish voice of Caboose was heard.

"Caboose?" Carmen asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh I'm just trying to find Rachel," Caboose responded, "We're playing hide and seek. Wanna play too?"

"Hide and seek eh?" Sarge contemplated.

"Sarge?" Carmen said, a bit curious.

"Follow my lead," he whispered.

"What are we whispering about?"

"Dammit Caboose, how many times have I told ya not to tune into our frequencies?"

"Many times Sergeant, but I have a very bad memory…oh look blueberries!"

"So I see," Sarge agreed angrily.

"Who are you looking for again Caboose, Rachel you said?" Sarge asked.

"That's right, I am looking for my favorite girl Rachel. She's wearing Blue armor like me. And she doesn't have her shotgun so she doesn't hurt me on accident," Caboose said cheerfully, perking up the ears of the two Reds.

"No weapon huh?" Carmen said, "and it's the shotgun wielding Blue too. Oh we can use her. Sarge back at Ridgeline they couldn't survive without her. She was what made their base function."

"Really? We can use that kind of leverage."

"Come on Reds, let's go find Rachel," Sarge and Carmen walked behind Caboose into the brush until they heard the crashing of bushes snapping and Caboose's frightened yells, "Oh no!"

The two Reds ran forward and then fell into the same little slip and slide of a hill that Caboose had just fallen down. Both of the shotgun wielding Reds went tumbling roughly down the slick muddy slope of the main trail and crashed through already broken plant life out of control. They were completely powerless to stop their sliding until they finally hit a brace of sugarcane and cascaded out into an orchard finally stopping in the fresh green wet grass.

"Ow, my head!" Carmen grumbled as she stumbled onto her feet. It wasn't the best landing she'd had, but not the worst either. So when she looked around and tried getting her bearings she wasn't surprised. It wasn't a spot that they had ever been before, as the large trees with no fruit of any kind hanging from their branches said they were not in an active spot for harvesting.

"Rachel we found you!" Caboose was heard yelling as she leaned over to help up Sarge.

"What that fast?" Carmen asked nothing in particular as she saw Caboose lean down next to a figure on her back completely unconscious. It was Rachel alright, the Mk V helmet was a clear giveaway and the dark blue armor was the other clue. But that same armor and helmet had been put through hell. The gold visor was badly cracked with a few pieces flaking off entirely. The armor was dented and scratched from bad physical contact and the amount of mud and grass stuck to her armor was an indication she had been there for a while.

"What happened to her?" Sarge asked, leaning down next to the unconscious Blue.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything but Hawaii do this kind of damage," Carmen said, examining the mangled helmet.

"Oh, maybe they know," Caboose said happily as always.

"Maybe who…oh shit."

"Oh yeah," Sergey said mockingly.

"Oh busted bitch!" Sister squeeled.

"Blarg!"

From three sides came three Blues, Sergey, Sister, and Junior, all with weapons raised to fire. The two Reds groaned in indignation at this change of spots and raised their hands in surrender.

"Alright Reds what did you do to her?" Sergey said, "and don't you think about lying to me!"

"Yeah, he knows when you lie, trust me I've tried."

"Sister!"

"Sorry."

"We didn't do anything you jackass," Carmen responded, "we just fell down that slope and Caboose found her here."

"Did they do it?" Sister asked looking skyward.

"That's what I'm trying to find out Sis…"

"Not the Reds, those guys," she pointed straight up towards at least a dozen hovering machines with arms outstretched with knives and claws attached. On each of them was a single slit of green that scanned the Reds and Blues and just surveyed them as they hovered there motionless. They didn't dare move, lest they provoke the machines into attacking and doing the same thing to them as they did to Rachel.

"Uh guys…I think we need to get out of here," Carmen said, pointing her shotgun up and at the unknowns hovering above them.

"Agreed, let's get out of here!"

The Reds and Blues charged off in all directions, leaving a confused Caboose and unconscious Rachel behind. Several of the machines went zooming off after them, humming a robotic warbling sound that just followed them as they went screaming and firing off their weapons into the dark.

Rachel began to stir and blinked away the haziness in her vision as she sat up to see that she was alone in the clearing with caboose as the sounds of gunfire echoed off into the night.

_What's goin' on here?_

**Big: Boom, and done with this one. That was tough to get done, but it's done at last. Thanks for reading folks. Hope you enjoyed yourselves.**

**Sarge: Now press that review button on the bottom of the screen dirtbags!**

**Big: Sarge?! When did you get into the cameo box?**

**Carmen: You left the door unlocked stupid! We needed a place to hide from those creepy robots you pulled out of your twisted skull.**

**Sarge: Uh oh, they're comin' see ya later scumbags.**

**Big: Okay, they're gone. Now I can close this thing out. **

**Next Chapter Preview: Where are they now? And what the fuck is attacking the Blues?!**


	3. Chapter 3

**BIG Z: Alright, I've been looking forward to this. Can't wait.**

**Simmons: Me too!**

**Liz: Oh yeah, can't wait for this, seeing Carmen running for her life is going to be priceless.**

**Lisa: That's Corporal to you.**

**Liz: Kiss ass.**

**BIG Z: Shutup already, let's get this thing on the road.**

**SHOUT-OUT! This is something new I'll start doing. So here's the first one. This shout-out goes out to Stupendous Studios, they've been pretty supportive thus far and have contracted me to write a script for an upcoming production. Check out their channel and subscribe. They're a pretty good group of actors and are an up and coming unit in the world of machinima. I will do other shout-outs if asked for, like if you have a clan, machinima group, or just want to shout out to another friend or author send me a PM.**

Chapter 3

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/8/2570

2035 Hours

Red Team 

"Ah…" Doc said happily plopping down on a single couch, "peace and quiet."

"I hear ya," Courtney said back, placing one of her bags on the ground cuddled next to Doc, "what a gig you've got here."

"Me? You're here too right?"

"I know, but dealing with those nuts has always been your deal. I hardly know them."

"So? Doesn't mean you can't get to know them."

"I have gotten to know, what's the Red Corporal's name?" Courtney asked.

"Carmen? The one that's been coming to you a lot lately?" Doc asked.

"Yeah her," Courtney agreed, remembering the familiar face, "I've gotten to know her pretty well so far. I'm trying to get to know the others as well as I can, it's not like I'm not trying."

"Good, but stay away from Grif, he's not all that popular and you don't want to be associated with him if you want to make any progress."

"Oh haha funny man," Courtney responded shoving him as they stared out the window out at the scenery before them.

"What was she in here for?" Doc asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"She'd been vomiting quite a bit lately, and she was having a lot of nasty mood swings, and loss of energy, if I had guess I'd say she's…"

But as she was about to finish her sentence a door beside them hissed open and in tumbled Sarge and Carmen tripping over each other with Sarge turned around firing his shotgun at something behind them. Carmen slumped against the wall, exhausted from the running she had just done. Her shotgun hung limply from her right hand and her left hand went to tear off her helmet, leaving her hair to fall into her face as she recovered. Sarge bent over, he himself quite winded from the recent run that they had just gone through.

Doc looked at them and then at the door.

"Oh hey Sarge, come on in, no need to knock or anything."

"Corporal Carmen," Courtney said, recognizing the exhausted Red NCO.

"Oh," Carmen said, barely acknowledging her presence, "hello Doctor."

"What's with…" Doc asked, getting up and vaguely motioning to the mud caked and exhausted Reds.

"We were being chased," Sarge said looking out the window to see if they hadn't been followed.

"Don't tell me you guys are fighting already?!" Courtney groaned, placing her head in her hand and rubbed the ridge of her nose in disbelief.

"They weren't Blues, or even human for that matter," Carmen wheezed, "God, why am I so tired?" she groaned in anger.

Doc and Courtney both looked at each other, and Courtney nodded to Doc and walked over to Carmen.

"Umm… you may want to come with me," she said, opening the door to her new examination room.

"What?" Carmen said, her eyebrows furrowing together in confusion.

"Doctor's orders."

"You're not technically our doctor; you're just a surgeon that Doc fell in love with. Don't say anything purple nurple you know it, she knows it, let's move on," Sarge quickly retorted.

Doc shut his mouth as he was about to respond but then dropped his head and blushed in complete realization that Sarge was right. He did love Courtney, that's why she was here and not under the heel of a UNSC occupation force on the planet they had met on.

"Well, I am the most qualified person here to determine what is wrong with your second in command, don't you wanna know that, Sarge right?" she stuttered, trying to get the gruff Red's name right.

Sarge simply nodded and admitted defeat, he knew that there was no possible way for even he to respond. So he simply nodded his head to Carmen, a subtle way of telling her to go with Courtney to let her know what it was that was going on. As Carmen walked off, Shotgun in hand Doc stood right next to him and watched the two women disappear into the new and spacious room.

"Say while she's giving her a checkup maybe I can…" Doc offered.

Sarge pointed his Magnum in Doc's face before he could finish his sentence, "Don't even think about it."

"Okay, maybe later. So…what was chasing you guys? You did seemed as scared as a kid with his hand in the cookie jar."

"Doc, I have no idea, my only consolation at this point is that they're chasing the Blues now."

Doc looked out the window into the vast garden before them and sighed, "not even in a place as perfect as this can we get any peace and quiet."

"Doc, as long as you're with us you'll never get any peace and quiet!"

He simply nodded at that, grabbing a mug of hot tea he had been drinking and started sipping at it as Sarge walked to the door to look in on Carmen. He could see that Courtney had made Carmen take off her armor for the examination she was planning and Sarge felt an uncomfortable yet fuzzy feeling in his gut as he thought of that. But as he took a seat at the entrance and leaned his head against the wall he about panicked at what he saw just outside the window. Doc was still sipping at his tea and had failed to notice the floating robot within a foot of him, separated by the glass of the window keeping it outside. It's claws rotated and the mechanical green eye scanned Doc curiously as it was joined by a quartet of its buddies.

"Doc…" Sarge said quietly to get his attention.

Doc brought the cup down from the blocking view it had on his vision and immediately got an eyeful of large scary robot. The slit of an eye was right at Doc's face scanning away, the green glow spreading over Doc's face and upper body as it observed him in his near panicked state.

"Sarge, what is that?" Doc whispered, fear drenching every word.

"The thing that chased us."

"Oh son of a…"

"WHAT!" the entire room seemed to shake as both men, and the robots, heard the angered screech of Carmen. All parties looked to the door as a nearly nude Carmen stormed out, and then locked her icy glare at the robots, "I am so not in the mood for you guys right now!"

The poor robots all looked from her then to Doc and then back to her, rotating their whole elongated bodies to pan from left to right. Then they finally zoomed off, away from the very temperamental red woman which they deemed as reason enough to run for the hills.

"Corporal it's okay. This is all perfectly natural," the calm voice of Courtney said as she walked out, a single scanner in her hand, blinking green.

"No, not for me. This can't happen to me, not here, not now. I could see this happening to Liz or dammit even Kate but why me?!" she hollered frustrated as she stomped around back and forth.

"Corporal, so what if you're pregnant?"

"WHAT?!"

Blue Team

"Run!"

"Oh shit, what is that thing?"

"I'm too sexy to die!"

"Tucker!"

The Blues ran off splitting up in the absolute chaos caused by the reappearance of the creature in their midst. The snarling and barking of it was hot on their heels and if they weren't wearing armor they were sure they would have felt its breath on their necks. They ran as fast as possible towards wherever they could find a place to hide, hoping that they would be safe. Tucker and Lea were in the lead of the pack, being the fastest, and dove into the first open door they came across. Lea felt around for the button to close the door frantically and then finally slammed it down to have the door hiss shut, plunging them into darkness.

The two of them immediately regretted it, "Oh great, now I can't see anything.," Tucker groaned as he felt around for a light switch or something of the type.

"Would you rather be running away from a demon spawn?" Lea snapped back as she felt along the wall opposite from Tucker.

Tucker ignored that, as she was right but he'd never acknowledge it. His hands glided along the wall feeling nothing but smooth plaster or metal, he couldn't tell. But when his hand hit a handle of some sort he remembered his flashlights on the sides of his helmet.

"Hey check this out," Tucker said, seeing a large breaker box.

"That's just what we needed to get the lights back on," Lea replied, standing next to him as Tucker opened it to see that the box was very much tampered with.

"Well, let's get this thing going so we don't have to trip over everything we walk into."

Tucker immediately started fiddling with it, eliciting no reaction from the overhead lights. They needed to get this thing fixed, or it would be a very long night indeed.

"Quick, this way!" Jenny yelled as she ran ahead of Wash and Church as they hauled Tex into a dark room she had found for them as they ran as fast as possible from the menace chasing them. The group found themselves inside the chow hall, or cafeteria for as the room was officially labeled.

The two men stormed inside knocking jenny to the ground in their haste to get into somewhere it might have been safe. Tex went face first into the deck, just as limp as ever. She must have really taken a bad hit for her to be out cold for this long. The only time Tex was out cold was when she was in an arctic blizzard. But whatever this thing was it had to be dangerous, because whatever could do that to Tex could kill them all. So they didn't take any chances and immediately started to barricade the entrance to the cafeteria after the glass door shut. Every Blue shoved a table against the wall and started to stack chairs against the door so that whatever was out there couldn't see them. Let's just say that the group got it done quickly thanks to their own adrenaline rushes that filled them with the strength of several men.

Once they had everything barricaded and they all felt like it was safe the group ttok a collective breath of relief.

"We're safe in here," Wash said, getting his composure back, "Church, help me with Tex. We need to check her injuries. She's been out a while."

"Yeah, got it," Church said, walking over to Wash.

The two men lifted the unconscious Freelancer up and onto an unused table and gently set her down. Wash flicked his helmet lights on and then scanned her armor up and down the length of her body, his expert eyes keen to any damaged component that might be responsible for her injuries. But after several minutes he found nothing.

"Well?" Jenny asked.

"I don't get it," her armor looks fine, true she took a nasty hit to the head but that shouldn't have done anything to keep her out this long. It makes no sense."

"So what the fuck do we do?" Church demanded.

"We can try to get her armor off, try administering first aid ourselves, but I don't know what we'd be able to do. I mean she's in a fucking coma!"

"Something like that happened to Lea once, she fell off of the Warthog while in the gunner's seat and then hit her head on a tree and was out like a light for several days," Jenny put in, "turns out that her armor had locked up and that she was waiting for us to fix the armor's recovery mode."

"You think she's in recovery mode?" Wash asked, "I don't think so, I'm not getting a beacon from her, she is an A.I. so I should be getting one."

"What if your armor's been completely stripped of the equipment necessary to hear those beacons?" Church asked, "it wouldn't be that hard to believe. None of the other Reds or Blues could hear it whenever I got killed."

"That's right, I had to retrieve my armor from ONI before I could head out on my mission to get the Director. A mission that went South of the South Pole thanks to you guys."

"Hey we did it didn't we?" Church snapped back.

"Damn, I'm hungry, you guys hungry?" Jenny blurted, trying to change the subject.

"Some food wouldn't be a bad idea. The kitchen's back there, see what you can find, I'll get Tex's armor off," Wash calmly ordered.

"Not so fast Wash, I'll take care of Tex, you see if you can do something about the lights so I can see," Church snapped at Wash.

"Fine, be my guest."

Jenny barged through the door and immediately scanned the large chromed out kitchen, looking for anything that would help her get her hands on something to eat. Truth be told she was starving, and she could very much use something to eat. It would definitely get her mind off of the recent happenings in their new base which had thrown everything straight to hell. So when she had found what looked like a cupboard she opened it up. Inside were numerous cans of assorted foods, everything from soup to chili to peaches. It was nicely organized, with all the individual food groups together in close proximity. And every can seemed to be fresh and up to date. She smiled as she looked over everything and then, seeing nothing she really felt like she moved on, closing the cupboard and moved on, finding a fridge farther across the room. She shined her helmet's lights onto it and yanked open the large fridge to find all manner of healthy and unhealthy foods present in the large refrigerator so she immediately yanked out a package of yogurt and tore one from its partners. Satisfied she turned around to try and find a spoon to eat the yogurt with. She found a set of spoons hanging off of one of the metal counters in the middle of the room so she went over to grab one. Setting her helmet on the counter so she was able to eat she reached over to grab one.

But a scratching sound from her left distracted her and the spoon dropped to the ground, clanging and bouncing on the clean tiled surface. She bent down to grab the spoon but as she was stooping over to snatch it she saw something that made her heart stop in her chest and yanked her stomach into her throat. There before her was a door, an open door. It led out into the hallway and into the kitchen where the creature was able to get into where she was. A clicking sound emanated from around the corner and she instantly dropped behind the metal counter. She looked down to see the silhouettes of four large clawed paws, slowly, methodically walking directly adjacent to her. The scratching of the claws and the growling, of the creature sent fear screaming into her very soul. Snapping her head back up she leaned against the metal, taking great care not to giver herself away. She felt her hands start to shake, and her lip began quivering as she tried to fight the urge go screaming from the kitchen. Because if she did, she was as good as dead, and being killed by a vicious creature in space satellite in the pitch black was something she did not want to try out.

"Hey Jenny you coming with that food or what?!" she heard Wash yell from the main cafeteria.

Instantly she heard a terrifying, but familiar growling noise come from the creature not three feet away from her. The clicking sounds stopped, and Jenny then felt the spine chilling feeling of hot breath blowing past her left cheek. The growling turned into snarling, and she slowly turned her head to look over to her left as the breaths poured over her face. Not six inches from her face it was there, her breath became ragged and frantic, and she instantly tried crab walking away from the large four legged beast. But the thing matched her step for step, and when she slipped her hand on a puddle her head fell back and she hit her back on the tile. This sudden movement triggered the beast, and instantly a paw was planted onto her breast plate and she found herself pinned, and she could see the white sharp teeth right in front of her nose as the thing snarled into her face. The weight of the creature kept her there, and when she tried to turn her head she shut her eyes for fear of looking into, literally, the jaws of death. Hot drool dropped to her cheek and she prayed for help, from anyone, anyone but Caboose, and her prayers were met by a blinding light from above.

**BIG Z: If that's not a cliff hanger I don't know what is, now I'm too tired to write a long cameo so I'll just give you guys the Next Chapter Preview.**

**Grif: That sounds like a good idea to me.**

**Lisa: What in the Hell are you talking about? You weren't even in this chapter!**

**Liz: Neither were you sis'**

**Lisa: Oh shutup!**

**BIG Z: Seriously? I'm trying to sleep here, keep it down!**

**Next Chapter Preview: Is it God? Is it fate? Is it a boy or girl, find out next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Tex: Oh, you're alive, I would never have guessed.**

**BIG Z: Sorry, guys, things have been wild lately. Semester is starting again, I'm in the midst of a ramp up in college stuff and things of that nature and writing time has been tough to come by. **

**Sarge: Then hurry up and write!**

**BIG Z: It is written you idiot. Here!**

**SHOUTOUT: This one is for the authors taking part in the story Red vs Blue Authors Edition, it's an entertaining story with perhaps the largest network of linked stories in the RVB Community. Good job you guys, keep up the good work.**

Chapter 4

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/8/2570

2100 Hours

Blue Team

Wash hadn't been trained or taught how to fix electronics, much less power grids, but he knew a tripped breaker when he saw one. So when he found the switch locked in the off position in the large panel of switches and glowing lights he knew what was wrong. They must have turned too many things on too fast. That was no issue whatsoever. So he simply reached in and flipped the switch and just like that the lights flipped back on and they were once again able to see. He looked over at Church who looked over at him and then took off his helmet to see just take in something other than the filtered air of that helmet.

"Well, that's one issue solved," Wash said as he turned towards the kitchen where Jenny had gone to grab something to eat.

Wash set his helmet down and then walked to the door, opening it he was confronted by quite a sight. The very first thing he thought he saw was a large black shape charging him, the next thing he noticed was that it was big, and Red.

"Whoa shit!" Wash yelled as the creature plowed into him.

"Is that a dog?!"

Church was absolutely right. What Wash was now desperately trying to keep from chomping his face off was basically an armored dog! The fur was black and shiny and thin, well taken care of and pristine. The sheer size of it was a bother for the poor Freelancer holding it by the neck away from his face as its long tan and black snout snapped at him with huge white teeth. The eyes of the dog were covered by a red sheen that looped over the big triangular ears of the dog that gave the big beast an incredibly serious and military look to it. The dog didn't seem to have a tail, instead a three inch stub was there, but Church had seen this type of dog before, and he couldn't believe it even with it right in front of him. But he had never seen a dog with Red armor plating before! That along with the big block letters that read "Shotgun" on the side of one of the plates protecting the dog's ribs confirmed the source of the dog's hostility and the most likely owner. But that wouldn't matter if the large dog didn't tear his face off first.

"Church, get this thing off of me!" Wash yelled as he pressed his head back against the floor to avoid the angry snapping teeth of the armored dog.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not getting near that fucking thing!" Church snapped back, "I've been killed in very humiliating way possible. I'm not getting killed by a dog!"

"Wash!" a scared and stunned voice yelled as Jenny charged in and grabbed the dog around the chest and tried to pull it off, "No! Down boy! Sit, back the fuck off of him!" she yelled and screamed as she held it around the neck and tried pulling it back, successfully getting the large dog off of Washington in the process.

The dog still tried to snap at them even as it was restrained by both Wash and Jenny. The dog tried biting through their armor plates to no avail but found purchase on Wash's hand when he tried holding its head down to the ground but slipped. The dog chomped down on Wash's fingers, squeezing with all its jaws could muster. All 600 pounds per square inch of strength, easily enough to completely severe his hand if he weren't wearing the protective gauntlet.

"Ow! God dammit! Let go!" Wash yelled trying to pry the angry dog's jaws off of his hand as he felt the bones in his fingers scream in agony as they tried not to shatter.

The dog held fast, growling at Wash as he pulled at the jaws of the dog to get his hand free. But then the dog let go and Wash lurched back onto the ground, holding his hurting hand as the dog continued to growl at him, albeit with less gusto. Jenny looked shaken, her eyes clearly worried as she tried holding down the dog.

"Finally!" the angered voice of Tex spoke up. Church had finally managed to pull her helmet off, allowing the complete lock down of her armor to be broken.

"Tex, you alright?" Church said, hovering at her side.

"Yeah, I'm fine, that damned dog just caught me with my back turned, so my armor locked down and wouldn't give way."

Tex hopped down from the table and glared down at the massive dog still trying to get loose. The exact breed was one she recognized, a Doberman Pinscher, a breed of dog used wildly by the military for its ferocity, tenacity, intelligence, strength, and size. The triangular shaped ears and stubby tail were a dead giveaway, the next was the jet black fur and tan parts on the neck, head and legs. It was a war dog, a dangerous war dog. But it was obviously tired, as its panting was now replacing the normal angry growling. Jenny felt that she was able to relax her grip on the dog and began to calm down. She was now able to examine what the dog was wearing. It was made of very similar material to her own armor, which meant it was very tough. But the armor was thinner and lighter to accommodate a dog's strength instead of the normal human strength. There were three main plates on the ribs and on the chest of the dog. On the dog's left rib plate was in black block letters the word: Shotgun.

"Shotgun huh?" Church said, examining the name.

"Sarge."

Red Team

Hawaii and Alaska had absolutely no inclination as to what was happening around them. The duo had found themselves magnetized to the most tropical portion of the entire massive garden. Once there they realized the designers had even go so far as to create a beach, filled with palm trees of every type. Bananas grew in abundance, coconuts weighed down the large swaying trees, and Hawaii's favorite part, waves licked at the pristine white beach beneath their feet. The two agents let this pristine sight soak in as they gazed upon its beauty in wonder and awe.

"I think I just found my favorite place," Hawaii whispered, grinning from ear to ear.

"I think so," Alaska said back, watching Hawaii take his helmet off as he walked to the water's edge.

"Remember that place I showed you the last night of leave?" Hawaii asked, smiling at Alaska as she held her helmet under her arm, allowing her white hair to fall free and wave in the cool breeze. Her eyes glistened in the gorgeous light as she smiled at him, remembering the most memorable moment they had ever shared.

"Sunset Beach," Alaska responded.

"Remember what I asked you that night?" Hawaii said, looking right at her as he stood with his boots in the water, allowing himself to be completely bathed in the light of the two gas giants.

Alaska averted her eyes, the memories of that long night flooding back in torrents. She remembered alright, not a day went by that she didn't think of what might have been if she had given him an answer. She could see it clearly as the night it had happened.

"You never did give me an answer."

_The moon was full, the tide was high, the symphony of the waves splashing rhythmically against the sand was the only noise they heard as they walked hand in hand along the beach. They were the only souls present that night. Not cloud was in the sky allowing the brightness of the full moon to shine through as they simply enjoyed one another's company on their last night on Earth. They had taken this walk at Hawaii's urging, with him saying that this was the most romantic of Oahu's beaches. So they'd started walking, they were wearing civilian clothes, Alaska had on one of her thin nearly see through beach dresses around her waist with her favorite white bikini underneath it. Hawaii was wearing one of his tropical button up flower shirts with red and orange striped swim trunks. Both were bare footed, allowing their toes to feel the cool sand between their toes and could almost feel the sand shifting as they stepped. It was without any warning, nothing to signal that it was about to happen. _

_Hawaii stopped and turned to Alaska, he gazed into her gorgeous eyes as she simply smiled warmly back. He seemed nervous, his hands were minutely shaking, his breaths seemed to be deeper and more rapid than they normally were. He spoke with a nervous tone, as if afraid._

"_Alaska," he said, "ever since I met you I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. Not a minute goes by without me even thinking your name or seeing your face. I…I love you."_

_Alaska simply leaned forward and kissed him tenderly, "I know, and I love you too."_

_Hawaii simply smiled, but he still stayed nervous, but Alaska immediately felt her heart leap into her chest as Hawaii pulled something out of his pocket, it was dark box coated in dark velvet. The type rings came in._

"_Alaska, I…I've never imagined myself doing this for anyone, but…" he slowly and methodically took a knee before her, "will you marry me?" _

_He opened the case, inside of it was perhaps the most beautiful ring she had ever dreamed. The ring was a silver band with a gorgeous shimmering diamond shaped in the form of a snow flake. The intricate design was flawless, it was large, being a full centimeter in diameter and was shaped to curve with her finger. To say she was dumbfounded by the beauty of such a crystal was an understatement. She fished for words to describe the feelings that swept over her like a flood. But none came out._

"_Hawaii…I…I don't," she stuttered, holding her hands over her mouth as she threatened to spill over into tears. _

_But then, another feeling swept over her. It was doubt, she and Hawaii had been going out for barely a few months. And now this, she had no idea what to even do. Fear gnawed at her, doubt flooded its way into her mind, and she couldn't speak. Her mind swam with numerous thought as she fought to come to terms with this. She couldn't break Hawaii's heart, she loved him, but why couldn't she say yes? Why was she hesitating? She grew far more scared as she saw Hawaii's face change, he became concerned, almost afraid. Had he jumped the gun? Was it too soon? Did Alaska want to marry him?_

"_Alaska," he whispered, fear and sadness creeping into his voice. _

_Instead, as tears clouded her vision, Alaska turned and ran. Unable to face Hawaii's sad eyes. The wet slap of her feet on the sand were the only things she heard as she tried to run. Hawaii stood, taking a step forward and then looked down at the ring held and could only ask the wind._

"_Why?"_

Alaska turned to avert her gaze from Hawaii's begging eyes. She hadn't wanted to ever face this again, she couldn't ever make Hawaii as sad and heartbroken as she did that night. Her own heart couldn't bear it, not again.

"You were scared," she heard Hawaii whisper.

She turned to him, wiping away a tear that had threatened to show itself.

"I'm sorry," she said back, "I…I didn't know what else to do."

Hawaii smiled lovingly, "It's okay babe, I shouldn't have asked you so soon," he lowered his gaze, "I was impatient, I really should have…"

But he was cut off as Alaska practically tackled him into the salty water. Alaska ended up on top of Hawaii as they sat up with Alaska on his lap, arms around his neck in a tight embrace. She kissed him fully and passionately without a word being said. They stayed in that position for a few seconds, allowing the crystal clear water to simply splash around them. Alaska drew back and smiled, having made perhaps the most important decision in her life.

"Hawaii, I…I should have said this the first time. And I've wanted to say it ever since you disappeared," she took a deep breath and then finally spoke, "Yes."

Hawaii felt his breath catch in his throat, and he hesitated, than smiled as he reached into the storage compartment of his chest plate. Out came that same dark velvet box.

"You…you kept it, after all this time?" she breathed.

"I could never have stopped loving you," he said back as she took the case and opened it. Once again she was greeted by the most gorgeous ring she had ever laid her eyes on. It was as perfect and beautiful as the night she first saw it in all its beauty. She held it as if it were the most precious object in the universe. And to her, it was.

"I love you."

Once again they leaned in for a kiss to seal this moment forever, but that moment ended, quite abruptly.

Blue Team

They didn't seem to care where they ran as the large floating robots continued their pursuit. They hadn't even tried to shoot at the robots that followed them through the garden, buzzing overhead and at their own level below the canopy. Sister had dropped her gun as soon as they had begun running like mad, and Sergey hadn't even tried to shoot at them.

"Sister keep running!" he yelled as he saw another pair of robots off to the side of where they were.

"But I'm getting tired," she groaned, her steps beginning to falter as her own exhaustion started to take effect. But at that moment, from above Sergey, a pair of the robots swooped down onto the two of them.

The first dropped right on top of Sister and snatched her by both arms with powerful metallic arms that simply dropped from the elongated body and latched on tight. It forced its way straight up, struggling with the armored Blue. Four small turbines whined from exertion as they powered the robot forward, towards the walls of garden, where a large body of water surrounded by tropical fruit trees was located.

"Sister!" Sergey yelled, yanking his Battle Rifle from his back and began to aim up at the robot. But at that instant, the second robot swooped in on top of him. He felt the metal arms latch themselves to his shoulders and then was propelled off the ground.

His Battle Rifle fell as he ascended skywards and soon he found himself at least thirty feet off the ground. He grabbed onto the arms above him, looking to hang on for dear life. Above him, the silver metaled robot didn't seem to even care. He saw that he still had his Magnum on his thigh and he got an idea. Reaching down, he pulled the weapon from its spot and aimed up, into the silver belly of the metal machine. He squeezed the trigger and the heavy pistol slug punched a hole through very thin metal plates. Sparks and smoke belched from the robot as it lost altitude and started to plummet. Metallic warbling came from the dying robot as it careened towards the water below with Sergey still in its grasp. He then aimed again, firing away into the ding robot until he felt himself freed of the robot's hold on his shoulders. But then he remembered a little something called gravity. And saw where he was aiming. Straight at a forest of palm trees.

_This is gonna hurt…_

He careened into the top of one tree and plowed clean through it and ricocheted up and out into the water. His body rag dolled right over what looked like Hawaii and Alaska. Then he basically belly flopped right into the water with an audible slap. To say it hurt was an understatement, wherever the black undersuit was showing felt like a great many tiny needles were poking him with the intensity of fire. He felt himself completely underwater on his belly, in complete agony. The sandy bottom shifted around him as he heard the watery sounds sloshing around him along with heavy thuds of what sounded like boots in the water. Then he felt himself being pulled up by a very strong pair of arms.

"You alright Blue dude?" he heard a familiar voice ask.

"Hawaii?" he groaned, "What're you doin' here? Wait! Sister! Where's…"

"Cannonball!" a high pitched voice called out from above Sergey and Hawaii.

A small yellow, ball, dropped from the sky and sent up a plume of water from the large splash. Out of that water appeared a very giddy and happy young Blue who, as always, seemed to be completely clueless.

"Whoohoo! That was awesome! Let's go again!" Sister said as she surfaced.

"Sergey, what happened?" Hawaii asked again as he let go of him.

"We were attacked, some weird robots started chasing us and we just ran for our lives. They then grabbed us and I managed to shoot one and it dropped me here."

"You mean this robot?" the voice of Alaska asked curiously from the beach where she squatted next to a downed and disabled robot that sparked and flashed from the damage of the crash and the several bullet holes in its belly.

"Yeah, that's the one," Sergey replied as he and Hawaii followed by Sister walked up and out of the water to see it themselves.

"Wait a minute, I know what this is," Hawaii suddenly beamed.

"You do?" Alaska asked out of curiosity as Sergey shined his helmet flashlights onto it.

"Yeah, here," Hawaii bent down and flipped the large drone onto its belly. There they could see, in English block lettering: Harvester P234.

"You mean a farming droid chased us?" Sergey groaned.

"Seems like it dude," Hawaii replied.

"Jesus Christ, what'll happen next?"

"Well for one dude, I sorta just got engaged," Hawaii said, immensely proud of himself.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!" Sister immediately exclaimed running over and hugging Alaska in complete girly girl happiness.

"Hey easy there!" Alaska tried calming down sister who was by now a leach hugging Alaska around the neck, "You just had to spout off about it didn't you?"

"When did this happen?" Sergey asked, taking his helmet off.

"About five minutes ago."

"I'm never going to understand you."

"Oh my gosh we have to tell everyone about…"

A hand clamped down around Sister's mouth as Alaska tried to shut her up, "How about you leave that news to us?"

"What news?" another voice said out of nowhere.

"Donut, what's shakin' dude?" Hawaii said happily.

"What're you guys talking about? And what happened to this thing?" Kate asked as she and Donut stepped out of the forest of palms to see the destroyed the harvester drone.

"It jumped us," Sergey said, "and so I shot it and it dropped me here."

"And Alaska and I are getting married," Hawaii said, instantly making Donut's and Kate's eyes light up.

"Eeeee!"

The two pink soldiers ran straight to Alaska and surrounded and bombarded the poor girl with questions, congratulations, hugs. Alaska's eyes locked onto Hawaii angrily.

"Seriously?!"

**BIG Z: And done.**

**Hawaii: About time dude!**

**BIG Z: What?**

**Church: It's been almost a month since you've updated you fucking idiot! People are waiting on you!**

**Grif: Hey at least we don't have to do much, I say take your time.**

**All: Shut up Grif!**

**Wash: You had me get bit by a dog, what's wrong with you? **

**Jenny: I thought it was going to be something terrifying like a Promethean, Hell everyone thought it was a Promethean!**

**BIG Z: No, it was a dog the whole time. I've got plans for that, rest assured.**

**Lea: You're just full of surprises today aren't ya? First a pregnancy, then a dog, a couple proposals, harvester robots. What's next?**

**BIG Z: Do you really wanna know?**

**Next Chapter Preview: What the fuck is next? Hint, we haven't seen them since Season Four. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Lea: Alright, another chapter.**

**Caboose: Awesome!**

**Tucker: Caboose don't touch anything!**

**BIG Z: You guys make sure he doesn't touch something important. There are things in here that shouldn't be touched.**

**Caboose: Too late, touch.**

**SHOUTOUT: This one goes out to GuardianAthens, she is the one that taught me how to write romance and is pretty much responsible for the backstory to Alaska and the girls. She's said that she's going to be writing a story dealing with Alaska and Hawaii's past so keep an eye out for it, it'll be awesome.**

Chapter 5

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/8/2570

2300 Hours

Red Team

Nothing had happened on their walk towards Blue Base because they simply didn't go to Blue Base. That wasn't surprising seeing as it was Grif and Liz assigned to go there. They'd just sat around by a small creek underneath a stand of small trees with small fruits of some kind hanging from their branches and just talked and did nothing. After about an hour they decided to return to Base and get some sleep, as it was actually quite late.

"Hey Grif?" Liz asked as they trudged along the dirt path.

"Wassup?"

"What do you suppose the others are doing right now?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Who knows, I certainly don't, nor do I care to know."

"Okay, just wanted to make sure you felt the same way," Liz grinned in response.

They continued walking towards their new home, chatting all along the way. Their futures had never looked as bright and promising as they did in that moment in time. They weren't in the midst of a life and death struggle, Sarge and Carmen weren't attempting to kill them or humiliate them, and most importantly to them, they weren't alone. It had been a long road to get to this point, filled with numerous hardships and trials they had no business even going near but they'd done it and here they were.

"There it is," Grif said as he walked around a corner and saw their base, illuminated by the fluorescent lights on the sides of the building. The windows glowed from lights that had been left on when they had left earlier and not a soul moved around.

"Looks like we're the first ones back," Liz replied as they made their way inside. The air conditioner blew cool refreshing air into their faces as they walked in through the glass doors.

The two orange soldiers quickly wanted to get their heavy armor off so they could sleep and went to their rooms where they'd placed their names on the name plate to the right of the sliding door. Inside they found their bags right where they'd left them, thrown lazily onto the floor. Grif gratefully pulled off his armor and changed into a clean set of shorts and an orange shirt. Fully content he was about to shove his armor into the corner when he heard a knock on his door.

"Hey Grif, you decent?" she said through the door.

"Yeah, you can come in," Liz responded by walking in.

She too had quickly changed, she wore a pair of gray short shorts with a small orange shirt that ended half way down her upper body. Her red hair was loosely combed to the side in a vain attempt to keep it out of her eyes. She just leaned against the door frame and smiled at Grif.

"Wanna find something to eat, I'm starving."

"You read my mind," Grif dropped what he was doing and followed her out to the cafeteria down the hall and walked into it seeing just how big it was. The whole place was about twenty yards by fifteen yards with ample seating on long tables with padded metal chairs on either side. A large refreshment machine was on the wall opposite the door with all the necessities present, a couple coffee makers, ice machine, soda and water dispenser, flavor packets, straws, and cups were neatly arranged. A few TV's were mounted on the walls in even intervals, ready to be used.

"Where's the kitchen?" Liz asked herself as she searched for the place where they could find some food.

"There's a door over there, let's check it out."

Grif walked into the large kitchen with Liz right behind him and turned on the light to see that they were in the right place.

"Jackpot," Liz smiled as she and Grif searched around. Yeah, they were going to love it here.

Simmons and Lisa were still walking around, as they'd been told to do, talking as they went along. They were about to turn around when they saw light in front of them. It was ground level with them with shadows walking across the light source casting several shadows over the small rows of bushes on the downslope of the hill the place was situated on. It seemed to be quite a nice place, until they heard the voices of Carmen and Sarge speaking in raised angered tones.

"Uh oh," Lisa whispered, hearing Carmen yelling.

"You think we should go see what's up?" Simmons asked.

"It wouldn't hurt. Maybe we can get some brownie points for this we can cash in later," Lisa replied thoughtfully.

The two maroon soldiers walked towards the source of the shadows and yelling and peered in through the window on the door. But when they tried to look they got a bit too close and the door, sensing their presence opened up and revealed the two peeping Reds. All heads in the room turned to stare at the two Reds, Sarge had his helmet off and his eyes were a mixture of a few emotions that Simmons had never seen. Fear and uncertainty, but then changed anger when he saw Simmons and Lisa standing there like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Simmons what in the sam hill are you doing here?" he yelled at him.

"Uh…sorry sir, we heard yelling so we decided to see what it was."

"Well this is not the best time," Carmen grumbled threateningly.

She was barely dressed, her armor was gone, replaced by the standard issue black sports bra and panties that were specially made by the military for use underneath their armored suits. Her face was a veil of anger and indignation, but underneath that was a hint of something else, fear.

"I see that, so…what's going on?" Lisa asked awkwardly.

"Corporal Carmen's pregnant," Doc spouted off proudly.

"Doc!" Carmen and Sarge raged immediately.

"Haha, nice one Doc…" Lisa chuckled, thinking the news a joke.

But the face of Carmen became sullen and glum as her anger subsided, and the two maroon soldiers finally realized this was no joke. Lisa's face became one of complete shock as she walked in, taking her helmet off and holstering her rifle.

"Is…is it true?" Lisa asked quietly and sensitively.

"Two months," she whispered quietly.

"What are you going to do?" Simmons asked curiously.

"I'm sure as Hell not going to get an abortion, and I'm not going to put it through the pain of being adopted. I…I'll keep the baby," she responded, looking to Sarge hopefully.

"You realize the 'it' in question is your child?" Courtney said.

"It's too early to tell if the baby's a boy or girl, isn't it?" she responded bitterly.

Sarge was quiet, not very comfortable with this situation at all. In his many years in the military he had seen just about everything, but this was a first for him. Children and family life was something he looked forward to once he retired from the military, after killing Grif of course. But here it was staring him in the face. He was at a complete loss for words, and Simmons noticed this.

"Sarge, you okay?" his long time right hand man asked quietly.

"I don't know Simmons, I hadn't wanted this, not yet, not so soon. But, now that it's here I don't know what I'm supposed to do or where to start," Sarge grumbled blankly.

"Well I guess we should start with getting down to the planet, the hospitals down there have better facilities for this sort of thing," Courtney said, her Doctor's training kicking in.

"Whoa, I'm not crippled… just two months pregnant," Carmen replied indignantly.

"Corporal what you need to do is get documented proof of your pregnancy, there's a whole slew of important paperwork that needs to be filled out in regards to this, like medical insurance which I'm sure the military has, the fact a new citizen is going to be born, and that I'm sure the military will need to know that they can't exactly send you off to battle with a child about to be born!"

"Why can't you…" Carmen snapped back.

"Because I'm a surgeon, I'm not trained for keeping up with pregnancies. I've delivered a few babies but that was because I was the last alternative! No, you need a doctor who specializes in this."

Carmen rolled her eyes and went to grab her clothes and armor, "Well I'm not going to be one for sitting back and being lazy. I'm Corporal Kristine Carmen of Red Army, and I will not be…"

"Hey rojo amigos," the voice of Vic called out walking in rudely and expectantly.

"Dammit Vic you ruined my monologue!" Carmen yelled.

"Whoa sorry dudette. Hey the Blue guys are here looking for Sarge, something about a dog," Vic responded, making Sarge go pale.

"Uh oh."

"Sarge?" Simmons asked.

"Dog? Don't tell me…" Carmen said as she pulled her digital red uniform on so she could pull on her armor.

"I kinda got an attack dog," Sarge confessed.

"Well this ought to be interesting," Courtney chuckled.

"Simmons, come with me, Lisa join us when Carmen is all geared up," Sarge sighed.

"Yes sir."

The two male Reds walked out behind Vic to the nearby door that led into the hanger they had arrived in. Out in the hanger was pair of Warthogs with Tucker, Lea, Wash, Tex, Church, and Jenny all waiting with a box on the ground in between Tucker and Lea shaking violently.

"Sarge…" Church said angrily.

"I see Shotgun didn't kill you," Sarge said, a little disappointed.

"Yeah many things can kill me, that's not one of them."

"That's too bad. Shotgun would have been the first Red to actually do that."

"What do you mean the first Red?" Lea asked suspiciously.

"Remember when I said Caboose has the highest body count?" Tucker replied, "Yeah I didn't who he killed…multiple times."

"Tucker shut the fuck up, I'm talking here."

"Whoa hold on, I wanna hear this ," Jenny piled on.

"Jenny, we have more important things to take care of right now," Wash said tensely, the professional Freelancer in him coming out.

"Like making sure the Reds know what happens when you fuck with me," Tex growled threateningly, stepping forward.

"And what would that be love?" a loud automated voice said from next to the Blues.

From the dimly lit tunnel that led to Red Base came a pair of headlights that the Reds knew belonged to their own Smart Tank, Monty. The large tank rolled out from the shadows, 90 millimeter cannon aimed and ready to fire. Sarge instantly felt more confident now that he had a tank in his corner. He crossed his arms over his chest with Simmons by his side, he chuckled.

"Now ya dirty, Blues please let Shotgun out of that box," he demanded.

"Fuck that," Tucker responded.

"It's either him or the tank Blue," Simmons added.

"God dammit."

Wash nodded to Lea to open the box so Shotgun would be able to get out of the box and hopefully not completely tear their heads off. She carefully lifted the latches on the sides as Tucker did the same thing and instantly the large Doberman smashed its way out and whirled around to face the Blues with teethe barred.

"Sarge, call him off, we did what you asked," Washington gruffly demanded.

"And it's fucking late, I wanna go to bed," Jenny yawned, getting angry looks, "What? We were all thinking it!"

"Yeah Sarge we have…other things…to worry about as well, you know, with Carmen being…"

"Shut it, Simmons! You'll give away our weakness," Sarge ordered.

"What was that about Carmen?" Lea curiously asked as Sarge and Simmons walked back towards the place they left Carmen and Lisa.

"Nothing."

"She's pregnant!" came Doc's voice.

"Doc I'm gonna kill you!" Carmen immediately screamed angrily.

"Hmm…this is awkward," Sarge grumbled looking at the odd expressions from the Blues and even Monty. The only one that didn't seem to care was Shotgun, who was still menacing Tucker and Lea.

"I'll say," Church smirked.

"Oi, Sarge. I'll give you all a lift. I'm sure with the Corporal being with child she'll need to stay off her feet," Monty immediately offered rolling up to the entrance.

"I'm not crippled!"

"Hey guys, we should probably head on back, this is not the time for a fight," Wash spoke up, trying to resolve the issue, and get away from the attack dog that Sarge still hadn't called off.

"Agreed," Tucker and Lea snapped back, hopping into the nearest Warthog.

"Shotgun, front and center," Sarge ordered. Instantly the dog obeyed and trotted back happily to the door where Sarge and Simmons were waiting for Carmen and Lisa to join them.

"Shotgun huh?" Simmons asked nonchalantly as the large dog sat obediently next to Sarge, the red glasses it wore glowing slightly.

"Yep, trained him to be just like me. He hates Blues and Grif."

"But Sarge, dogs are color blind," Simmons replied.

"What?"

"Sarge dogs don't have the ability to tell what color is what, how did you train him to attack Blues who wear very similar armor to us?"

"Oh yeah, that. I just told Lopez to work on it," Sarge said.

"I'm guessing that's why Shotgun wears those glasses.

"Bingo bingo."

From behind the two Reds walked Lisa and Carmen weapons magnetized to their backs. Lisa led the way with Carmen trudging along behind her. Behind them came the voice of Courtney, shouting all sorts of Doctor's commands to Carmen as she walked out.

"…and make sure you eat something before you go to bed, you'll have to be on double rations because you're now eating for two Corporal."

"Okay! Fine, can I go now?!" she groaned as she walked out and saw Monty, Sarge, Simmons, and Shotgun waiting on her.

"Your chariot awaits," Monty said, depressing his cannon in a tank's way of bowing.

"I don't need a lift Monty," Carmen growled.

"It'll be faster, and besides it's an order Get on the tank," Sarge said to Carmen.

Carmen sighed in defeat and was the first one to take a seat on one of Monty's track nacelles. The rest of Red team walked over and climbed aboard so they could return to base after a very interesting first night at their new home. Monty immediately rolled out heading back towards the place from whence they had all originally been before this little foray into the _Plentiful's_ main garden.

But from the shadows of a catwalk that was hanging above the corridor several sets of eyes were watching in curious anticipation as the new comers to the Plentiful rolled by. They were all anxious to do something as they watched the group of Reds roll by on top of their tank and immediately grew restless when they saw Carmen.

"That is the one," one of them whispered in a hurried high pitched voice.

"She is the bearer of the prodigy, the one that will restore balance to the flag," another added.

"We must rescue her from the clutches of the naysayers! And fulfill the promise of the flag bearer!" another voice added.

A half dozen other voices immediately started chanting rapidly.

"Rescue her!"

"Rescue her!"

"For the flag!"

"Whoa hold on a minute guys, my phone's ringing."

Red Base

"Grif! Dammit what're you doing back here?!" Sarge growled as soon as he saw Liz and Grif sitting in the living room eating from a bucket of rocky road ice cream.

"We were tired so we came back here to call it a day," Grif said back.

"Why aren't you at Blue Base being a good soldier getting killed in a humiliating way? Like getting your head eaten by a carnivorous plant," Sarge added on.

"Because we didn't feel like walking all the way there and dying on our first night here," Liz snapped back testily.

"Shotgun," Sarge growled.

"Sarge what does your Shotgun have to do with this?"

But what Grif was answered by was Sarge's attack dog right in his face, ready to tear it off. Grif and Liz immediately went pale at the sight of what they assumed was Sarge's latest plot to kill them.

"Meet Shotgun," Sarge replied.

"Hehe…hi Shotgun, good boy, nice boy?" Liz mumbled as the dog glared at her as well.

"Oh my god a puppy?!" a high pitched squeal emanated from the entrance in front of Sarge.

In rushed Kate and Donut, and they instantly started swooning over Shotgun, who had no idea what to do. The normally threatening Doberman Pinscher's ears went from upright and alert to lowered and passive as Kate and Donut started petting and scratching him furiously. Cooing at how they now had a dog. Sarge was completely baffled at the sudden change as Hawaii and Alaska walked in to see this odd scene.

"Hey dude, we got a dog," Hawaii beamed in cool happiness.

"He's not a dog, he's a soldier specifically trained to be a hard core Blue hating Grif eating Private First Class in the glorious Red Army," Sarge ranted.

"Grif eating?" Grif questioned.

"I fed him stuff that smelled like you. For some reason he really seemed to enjoy it, such a good dog," Sarge happily replied.

"Uh, I'm starving, Liz where'd you find that food?" Carmen groaned, yanking off her helmet.

"It's…in the kitchen, why?" Liz replied, a bit confused.

"She's…" Lisa started but was abruptly silenced by Carmen slapping a gloved hand over her mouth.

"Shh…not with Kate right here."

"What're you talking about?" Kate said as she stopped scratching Shotgun behind the ears.

"Well, should we tell her?" Sarge asked, but then saw that all eyes were on him.

"What're you talking about Sarge?" Grif asked exasperated with all the beating around the bush.

"We're trying to decide how to tell you guys that Carmen's pregnant," Simmons whispered in Grif's ear.

"She's pregnant?!" Grif yelled.

"Grif!" Sarge yelled, outraged.

"Simmons told me!"

"EEEEEEE!" Donut and Kate instantly tackled Carmen before she could grab her shotgun.

"Can't breathe!" she managed a hoarse whisper.

"Oh my gosh, Kate, let's make her that special cake we were going to bake tomorrow," Donut squeeled running off towards the kitchen with Kate in tow.

Carmen simply looked tired, the toils of the day finally starting to take their toll. All she wanted to do was sleep, after getting a quick bite to eat. So she walked towards the kitchen and finally just collapsed at a chair while the rest of Red Team took a seat next to her and around her, concerned looks on their faces.

"Carpy? Is it true? Are you pregnant babe?" Hawaii asked carefully.

She simply nodded, acknowledging the fact she was now with child. This was a very big deal for Red Team, not only was their team dealing with matters such as a new base, new mission, new everything, but now they were going to be dealing with a new member.

"I just want a quick bite to eat and some sleep," Carmen groaned.

"Here," Sarge offered, placing a hot plate of heat up potatoes and some chicken on the side.

"Thanks," she replied and started voraciously digging in.

"I guess she is pregnant, normally she'd never eat anything outside of our set eating times," Liz grinned.

"Shutup Liz," Carmen growled through a mouthful of food.

They sat up and talked for a while, just trying to figure out what they were going to do until Alaska decided to call it a night and the other members of Red Team followed her lead and simply walked to bed and tried to get a good night's rest, they were sure to have a full day tomorrow.

Blue Base

The Blues wasted no time getting to bed, they had all pretty much wanted just to go to sleep and resume their misadventures the next morning, or early afternoon. But a couple Blues weren't feeling very sleepy at all, in fact, the two Blue Freelancers felt tense, as if they were being watched.

"Can't sleep Wash?" Tex asked as she walked in on Washington checking and rechecking his Battle Rifle in their makeshift armory.

"No, something doesn't feel right," he responded.

"Agreed. Wanna take a look around, see what might be causing us to lose sleep?"

"Yeah, that's what I was about to do," Wash said as he shoved a fresh magazine into the breach of his weapon and chambered a round.

"This had better not be something of the Reds' doing."

Red Base

Shadows crept towards the entrance to the base through the cornfield directly adjacent to the Red Base's main entrances. The tall corn stalks parted gently as dark figures quietly made their way forward with weapons trained forward, scanning for any movement. There were ten of them, all of them were quiet and focused on whatever numb skull scheme they, or rather, their inanimate deity, had thought of. But they were not to be deterred and so they quietly slipped in through the sliding glass door and carefully walked in through the two sets of stairs that led into the main living area that the Reds used. The lights were shut off for the night with only a dim blue light on the floor level for guidance for any late night risers.

"Where do we find her?" one of the intruders asked quietly.

"How the fuck should I know?" came the irritated response.

Every one of them gathered around abandoning all semblance of stealth as they tried to figure out the next phase of their poorly made plan.

"This was your idea you idiot!"

"No it wasn't, it was yours!"

"Shut up they'll hear you!" their leader hoarsely whispered before their voices rose any higher.

"Newb."

"Fucktard."

The two of them shoved each other with every insult, still not ready to let go of their little spat.

"Shh…listen," their leader raised his fist and they heard a door open and a yawn reached their ears from down one of the halls.

"Quick in here," one of their members opened up a door and all ten intruders rushed inside of the kitchen and hid behind the large counter out of sight.

"Ooh…cake…" the last one inside cooed as he saw a freshly baked strawberry cake sitting out with a glass cover to prevent it from drying out.

"Get down someone's coming!" one of his comrades yanked him down before he was able to remove the glass to get a taste of the beckoning cake.

"Aw…but it looked so good, and Red."

"Shut it, we can take the cake with us."

A low whispering came closer as the door to the kitchen opened and they saw their target walk in, "Stupid pregnancy. Why can't you be satisfied with that meal for now kid?" Carmen groggily grumbled as she rubbed her eyes and searched for a light.

She found one and flicked it on, the light blinding her for a second until she adjusted her eyes to be able to see. She was only wearing a tank top that came down just below her breasts and a pair of red pajamas and allowed herself to walk around barefoot. Her honey blonde hair was down, not in its usual pony tail so her hair was partly in her eyes, but she didn't care. She was hungry. There was what appeared to be a cake on the counter. This seemed to peak her interest so she looked around for a way to claim of slice of it and saw that there was a stack of plates directly across from her with silverware in a neat set of organized holders next to it.

"There we are," she said and went over to grab them but a flash of movement to her right caught her attention and she turned to see a single figure in Red armor reaching out a hand for the cake.

"Oh…shit," the figure cursed quietly. He wore an ancient variation of the MJOLNIR Mk V[B] armor. It was all Red, lending the wearer's identity to be a Red. But one of the first Reds ever to be deployed due to the model of the armor. He seemed to be actually a bit smaller than her, more diminutive in every way possible. But what happened next didn't seem to make much of difference, because apparently he wasn't alone, as she found out.

"What th…MMPH!" a strong gloved hand clamped down around her mouth before she could raise her voice and she felt her hands get pulled forcefully behind her back by a set of strong arms.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?" a high pitched voice whispered as she resisted as fiercely as possible but soon felt her hands being tied with nylon ropes. That rubbed her wrists raw as she fought their every attempt at tying them securely behind her back.

"Hey I'm hungry," the Red replied testily.

"Quick tie her up," their leader said as more Reds filed into her line of sight.

They all seemed to be armed predominantly with Battle Rifles, one had a Rocket Launcher attached to his back as he tied her ankles together so tightly her feet began to fall asleep due to the lack of blood flow. The one holding his hand over her mouth made a move to replace it with a towel that was handed to him but to do that he had to take his hand off her mouth first.

"Hel…" she managed to scream but the towel was quickly yanked over her mouth before she could finish her cry for help.

"Let's get outta here, someone would have heard that," their leader said as they lifted her up.

Carmen's hands were tied behind her back tightly and her ankles were secured together all by nylon rope used by the military so there wasn't a chance in hell she was going to break out of those. And the white length of towel that was gagging her between her teeth wasn't going anywhere so calling out wasn't going to do anything. So she simply had to hope that her only chance was that someone heard her scream.

"Okay, the bearer of the prodigy is in hand, let us away to the safety of the temple," one of them said, lending further evidence to the identities of her kidnappers. They were the infamous Zealots from Battle Creek.

"Quick we need to go before…"

A large shadow appeared in the doorway as the Zealots began to make their way out of the kitchen with her hoisted on top of three of their shoulders.

"Now where do you think you dudes are goin' so fast?" the care free voice of Hawaii said as he towered over the Reds' leader.

"CHARGE!"

**BIG Z: Oh God, what have I done?**

**Tex: Oh this is going to be good.**

**Tucker: Dude you need to need to update this soon, the suspense is killing me!**

**Next Chapter Preview: Let's get ready to rumble!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Big Z: Another one finished, and boy is this going to be an interesting one.**

**Wash: Okay, I'll bite, there's more going on here isn't there?**

**Big Z: If I told you I'd have to kill you.**

**Tex: As if you could do that.**

**Big Z: I do control your fate with the push of the button Tex, don't test me.**

**Tex: I don't need a button to kill you.**

**Big Z: Ahh! Don't hurt me!**

**SHOUTOUT: This one is to my brother, perhaps the biggest fan of my work and an aspiring author of fan fiction himself. Thanks bro, hope you enjoy this one.**

Chapter Six

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

0100 Hours

Red Team

"Charge!"

All at once a half dozen small Reds tackled Hawaii and managed to shove him out of the doorway and onto the ground where they proceeded to attempt to subdue him so they could escape with their prize, a bound and gagged Corporal Carmen. She was still hoisted on the shoulders of three of the Zealots that attempted to run off as fast as they could before the rest of the Red Teams could figure out what exactly was going on. But so far that plan wasn't really working. Hawaii successfully threw a pair of the Zealots on his chest straight out past the group attempting to run out the side door into the garage and forced them to collide with the couch. The racket of that surely would have awoken the rest of the Red Team, and it did.

"What's goin' on out here?" Sarge grumbled sleepily as he and an unarmored Shotgun walked out of his room.

"These dudes were kidnapping Carpy!" Hawaii yelled as he launched another Zealot into the wall next to Sarge making the intruder collapse unconscious from the blow, letting out a pained, 'herk-blah.'

"No they don't, Red Team attack!"

Sarge and Shotgun joined the fray as the other Reds slipped of out of their rooms in shorts, pajamas and tee-shirts and started fighting tooth and nail to save their comrade. Shotgun immediately latched onto a Red Zealot who attempted to bring his pistol to bear on Hawaii and snapped his jaws shut on the back of the Zealot's neck. The Red began running around in panic as he screamed for his comrades to get the large attack dog off of him

"Get him off! Get him off!" the young Red started yelling frantically as he ran around aimlessly as every single Red joined the brawl. He tripped over Lisa as she was hit by a well-aimed punch and fell to the ground and then he tripped over her and fell completely over one of the fallen bar stools.

Simmons tackled one of the smaller assailants and grabbed the closest weapon at hand and attempted bash in the visor of the Red he was facing. As he grabbed a hold of a Battle Rifle he brought it down and landed a solid blow that stunned the Zealot but the second blow was blocked and a good punch landed right into his face and knocked him back to his feet.

"You will not stand in the way of our divine might!" the Zealot yelled as he charged back at Simmons but got a face full of the butt of the rifle Simmons slammed into his visor.

"Ow! What the fuck that hurt! OW!" he yelled again as Simmons smacked him this time in the sweet spot, "Herk-blah!"

Liz and Grif walked lazily out of their rooms to see what was going on outside with the Zealots and the rest of the team going at it. They saw Sarge pounding the visor of one of the Zealots with his Shotgun while Hawaii tried wrestling two of them off of his back and Alaska was using pure agility to punch and kick at a Zealot that was swinging his sniper rifle at her like a club and failing miserably. Donut and Kate were being chased around in a circle dodging around a pool table to stay away from the enemy they were "fighting" against. And off to the side they saw another Zealot on his belly screaming desperately and trying to crawl away from Shotgun as he was dragging him away into a hall by one of his feet.

"What the fuck?"

"When did this happen?" Liz asked as she rubbed her eyes and saw Carmen on the ground next to them.

She was clearly pissed off, and clearly tied up. She was lying on her belly with her wrists tied extremely tightly together with her ankles tied just as securely. She was making low muffled cries for help through a white towel that tied between her teeth gagging her adequately enough that all she was able to get out were a few 'mmphs' at the two orange wearing Reds. Her eyes were gleaming in absolute fury as she struggled violently to break her bindings.

"Oh hey Corporal," Liz acknowledged, getting a muffled scream from the gagged Red.

"Should we help her?" Grif asked as he looked at the angry Carmen tossing around on the ground.

"She'll get out of those ropes sooner or later, and besides, she's pregnant."

Carmen screamed again, this time barely managing to make it sound like a phrase she was having to say more and more these days, 'I'm not crippled!'

They kneeled down and started untying her while the rest of the Reds successfully continued the fight, albeit without coming out without a scratch. Sarge was bleeding from the nose after a pretty solid punch from a Red he pinned to the ground. Simmons and Liz managed to knock out a Red after he cut open Lisa's lip and gave Simmons a nasty bruise on the chin. Donut and Kate were trying to hold down a pair of Zealots that screamed in absolute fury as they kicked and elbowed as best they could to get out of the arm-locks they were in. Alaska actually faired the best, she managed to kick her opponent's ass without so much as a scratch and Hawaii had finally smashed the heads of the two Zealots on his back together. Every single Zealot but one was accounted for, and the last one, still trying to crawl away from the Reds' attack dog, Shotgun, was heard screaming in fear and pain as Shotgun mauled him in whatever dark corner he had dragged him off to.

"Kristine," Sarge said in a fresh realization of what had started this huge brawl. He rushed over as Carmen sat up and yanked the gag out of her mouth coughing violently and managed a few thankful breaths.

"I'm gonna kill them all, after I kill Liz!" she screamed furiously as she got to her feet.

"Hey I didn't do anything!" Liz snapped back.

"Exactly!"

"Okay let me rephrase that…"

"Shutup!"

"Ahh! Don't the beast eat me!" they all heard a scared Zealot yell from around the corner as they saw the unfortunate owner of the voice pull himself past the corner and then get yanked back out of sight.

"What do we do with them Sarge?" Simmons asked.

"We kill them," Carmen said angrily.

"No we need something more permanent," Sarge replied thoughtfully.

"More permanent than death?!" Lisa asked.

"These guys are kinda…odd," Grif replied, "they don't die, no matter what you throw at them they'll just revive themselves."

"What?!"

"Sarge, I think I have a theory on that," Simmons replied.

"What kind of theory?"

"I'll first need one of their helmets to access its databanks, once I do that I should be able to tell you more," Simmons said as he thought out his plan more fully.

"I'll help you out," Lisa said, wiping off the blood on her chin, wincing as she hit a particularly sensitive area, "might want to tie those guys up first."

"Fine," Sarge agreed, "Kristine," he whispered, "I'm taking you to get checked out by Doc and Courtney. Need to be sure you and the baby are okay."

Carmen's eyes softened as she heard Sarge's directive to check her for any injuries. She had always been used to Sarge not really worrying about her at all. Now that she was pregnant she had never guessed how protective he would become. She wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand she wanted so desperately to be the same independent soldier she was used to being but on the other she wanted to keep her baby safe, after all, it was her first child! _These coming months are going to suck!_

Blue Team

"Wash, get down," Tex hissed as they rounded a corner.

Wash slid back behind Tex and kneeled down next to the black armored agent.

"What is it?"

"I heard something moving, there!" she pointed as a door opened and was surprised to see quite a few dark silhouette s stream noisily from their origin.

"Whoohoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's roll!"

Wash and Tex stared unbelievingly at the ten Blue Zealots that streamed from the single door with their flag in hand and watched them rush off shouting, 'hut, hut, hut, hut!' at the top of their lungs. The two Freelancers watched in silent shock as the Zealots disappeared in the direction of the hanger before they moved or spoke again.

"What the fuck was that?"

"This has got to be some kind of damn nightmare," Tex groaned.

"Explain, please," Wash tried to calmly ask Tex as he followed her down the corridor to keep an eye on the Zealots.

"They're, in a word, nuts. They'll kill you over a flag! But they don't die, I have no idea how or why. But no matter what you throw at them they'll get right back up and come back at ya."

"You sound like you've met them before," Wash grumbled.

"A couple times."

The two Freelancers followed the running Zealots until a shadow passed over a window that completely covered the window and the two of them stopped. Carefully, they walked over to see what the source of the shadow was and saw a very familiar shape. A shape they hadn't expected to see here.

"That's a UNSC Frigate," Wash said as he took in the shape of the large warship backing towards the station.

"Thanks for stating the obvious Agent Washington."

"What the Hell is it doing here?" he asked as Tex walked away from the window.

"More importantly, where'd the Zealots go?"

UNSC Frigate _Lonesome Dove, _on approach to the _Plentiful_

"Lieutenant Athens to the hanger, repeat, Lieutenant Athens to the hanger," the monotone voice of the ship A.I. called over the intercom, snapping the young Navy Lieutenant out of her daze.

"What?" she groggily asked no one in particular.

"You're wanted down in the hanger June," one of her longtime friends from the Naval Academy on Reach responded.

"Thanks, wait a minute, the hanger? We're here?!" June responded, her mood enlightened quite a bit realizing she had arrived at her new post as a commissioned Lieutenant in the UNSC Navy.

"Yep, we're at Pluvia Silva Colony, complete with its famous space gardens," another newly minted Lieutenant responded.

"Alright, wait, why aren't you guys being called down to the hanger with me? I thought you were all assigned to the same planet?" June said as she was about to leave.

"Apparently you've been assigned to some kind of orbital detachment. Something to the like forty troops in all?"

"Yeah I've heard about them, apparently they won the Medal of Honor or something in some kind of black ops mission that pretty much led to the liberation of New Solstice."

"Black ops?! These guys must be some kind of badasses! See ya fellas, I'm gonna go join my new unit," June replied happily.

The newly commissioned Lieutenant June Athens was a brand new twenty year old graduate of the UNSC Naval Academy on Reach. The young officer wasn't all that tall In stature, at barely 5'11", she weighed just 145 pounds. She was thin, but strong for her small frame and thin arms. She kept her nearly platinum blonde hair down hovering around the bottom of her chin at its longest. Her blue eyes were aqua in color, and shone brightly, greatly complimenting her hair. She was different than most Navy officers, as she preferred to get her hands dirty and due to that she earned a grudging respect from her classmates at the academy, especially any guys who attempted to flirt with her. Beneath that soft face, blue eyes, and seductive smile was a fiery drive to succeed. So she had excelled in the Academy graduating in the top ten in her class.

Now she would be putting her newly acquired rank to helping her newly assigned unit. She was no office jockey. She wore the armor of her choice. A combination of Marine, ODST, and Navy pieces matched to what she wanted. The chest plate was a standard light weight Marine variant, well suited to what she liked to use in the academy, her helmet underneath her arm was a modified ODST helmet that was granted to her by a former Helljumper who'd she'd managed to impress enough to earn it. The helmet was a different color than the usual make, it's visor was clear, but retained the ability to take the black form the faceless helmet was known for. It was geared with quite a few communications sets for better communications and was trimmed down a bit. On her left shoulder she had a large hard shelled pad to protect her neck due to the fact she was right handed. It was a Navy armor piece that she liked when she had met Captain Lasky of the UNSC Infinity and so she'd copied it. On her right wrist she'd placed one last attachment that had the ability to hold the rounds for her favorite weapon. The Navy Magnum, the most powerful pistol to be used by the UNSC.

The young Lieutenant strutted down the hall towards the hanger just a little ways away and walked in to practically run to report to a Lieutenant Commander in charge of the hanger that was supervising the preparation of a whole bunch of supplies and equipment. Two Pelicans and two even larger Albatross Heavy Dropships were being towed over to the cargo door for the Lonesome Dove's hanger.

"Sir, Lieutenant Athens reporting as ordered sir," she snapped to attention immediately, her hand snapped to a perfect salute and was smoothly returned by the older Lieutenant Commander.

"Ah, Lieutenant Athens, good of to join us. We're about to dock with the Plentiful, an Agro IV class Agricultural Satellite. We'll offload your unit's new equipment, new dropships, and you," the man replied calmly, "Here's your manifest, orders, and platoon roster."

June was at a loss for words, this wasn't what she wanted to hear, she thought she would be assigned to an orbital battlestation where this elite unit of hers would be able to drop from ODST pods or dropships and start to kick ass. No, the Commander just said she was assigned to…an Agricultural Satellite?!

"Sir, there must be some kind of mistake, I'm not here to look after a farm, I'm here to be assigned to an elite unit…"

"Lieutenant, this is where you've been assigned. You're the new commander of the forty-five man platoon assigned here. This equipment is yours, these dropships are yours, and these orders are yours."

"But…but…" she stuttered.

"Opening bay doors," the automated hanger master voice called out. Red lights started flashing and the massive stern doors on the hanger bay started to steadily creak open and reveal the large open bay of the Plentiful's hanger bay where she was expecting some kind of welcoming formation of her unit but instead all she saw was a pair of Pelicans parked off to the sides of the hanger with numerous stacks of crates and barrels, and hardly any lighting. It looked deserted completely.

"Welcome home Lieutenant," the commander said and then waved to his knuckle draggers to begin transferring the supplies, equipment, and new dropships over to the Plentiful, "Load 'em up! Let's get this done quickly people!"

"But there must be some mistake, this can't be where an elite unit is stationed! Where's the formal greeting, the…the commanding officer, or even just a deck watch?!" she yelled out of frustration as she followed the Commander into the Plentiful behind the two Albatross Dropships being towed into the hanger with the Pelicans already being parked next to their two cousins already present. Crates of equipment flooded in quickly as the Commander turned to her and passed her a clipboard and a tablet with a sly grin on his face.

"Lieutenant, I hand these supplies and equipment over to your command."

"My command? No I'm not in command, I'm just…"

"The new CO of the platoon stationed here. Now sign the paper Lieutenant," the superior officer growled.

"Yes sir," she grumbled, defeated, it was at that moment that she saw several bags which actually belonged to her get carried in and roughly thrown onto the piles of crates that now concentrated themselves in the middle of the floor. Along with the bags was an armored case that contained something she was told not to open until she arrived at her station.

"Good luck Lieutenant," the Commander saluted and walked out, "you'll need it."

She looked around and saw that no one had emerged still and that the knuckle draggers were quickly returning to their ship and that the hanger doors were closing.

"You guys suck!" she yelled as the thick doors shut themselves and sealed.

The young officer groaned and banged her head against the cold steel and closed her eyes in frustration. She sat there for a little while and then opened her eyes again and saw a green digital clock above her that read 0124. _These guys were probably sleeping,_ that explained why there wasn't a welcoming committee. She looked around at the massive hanger bay to see that the six dropships now under her command were all neatly lined up and that the stacks of equipment were still sitting in a huge pile in the middle of the room. She saw a few dim lights on the walls over signs that were worn and scratched up pretty badly but written in different colors over them were two words with arrows right next to them. _Red, and Blue, squad names? _

She frowned as she walked towards the large open doors that led deep into the station, and completely out of sight. The Agro IV's weren't the largest food satellites to be built but they weren't small_, if these squads are arranged opposite one another, I'm a good ten klicks away, in the middle of the night with no transport!_

She was not happy as she looked around to find some way of contacting whoever was here, she saw a glowing control panel right next to a door that had some neatly printed names written on it. As she walked over towards the door she heard a slight shuffling noise off to her left behind a pile of crates. In the darkness she wasn't able to see all that well and when she squinted to see what had made that noise she simply saw nothing but olive green boxes.

"Hello? Anyone here? I'm Lieutenant June Athens, UNSC," she called out.

She received no response from whoever, or whatever had made that noise. So she pulled out her pistol, and gripped it as she had been trained so well to do. She heard some more scuffling behind her by the Pelicans and whirled around to see a human shape duck down behind a Pelican on the far left of the row of dropships.

"Whoever you are show yourself, that's an order!" she said again with more authority in her voice.

She began to hear whispering noises coming from all around her until a slight click resounded in the darkness. What the fuck? June saw numerous figures rise from shadows all around her and brought her pistol to bear when she saw that they were aiming their weapons at her!

"Hey whoa, whoa, whoa! Stand down soldiers!" June ordered as loudly as she could as she aimed back at the numerous shapes surrounding her. They sort of looked at each other and shrugged before returning their attention to her and started to close the distance.

June didn't hear one of them coming up behind her until she heard the dull thud of the heavy boots in the deck plating right behind her. She swung around, and as she spun her arm was grabbed and twisted violently, forcing down a pressure point that caused her grip to slacken on the Magnum and it dropped to the floor with a clatter. She caught sight of the helmet the soldier wore, it was Blue, with an ODST like visor, but had an almost Spartan look to him. He was about as tall as she was but more sturdily built beneath the armor, which was also Blue and Spartan-esque. She was sort of stunned by what she was seeing and hesitated which cost her, another soldier wrapped an arm around her neck and snapped her out of her daze quickly. She threw up her elbow, smashing both his helmet and her funny bone in a loud crack of armor on armor. The tingling pain in her whole fore arm didn't deter her and she prepared to reach up and use another move she'd learned and mastered.

"Ow what the fuck that hurt! OW!" a high pitched, almost squealing voice screamed as she elbowed him again in the gut.

"Oh I saw that, you got fucking owned!" a similar

"What is wrong with you people, let me go you stupid…" she struggled before she felt her breathing begin to get choked off by the arm around her neck tightened a great deal and she choked out gasps for air as she saw the other soldiers around closing in. A few of them had holstered their weapons and now held rolls of duct tape. _Oh no they wouldn't!_

She was quickly swarmed by the Zealots who quickly started to tie her arms and legs together with blue duct tape. June's wrists were tied first even as she yelled at them angrily and attempted to struggle as fiercely as possible. But her fierce struggles only succeeded in kicking a pair of the Zealots onto their stomach, drawing the laughter of their comrades. Tape was wrapped around her breast plate and all the way around her elbows making her arms basically useless pinned appendages. Her legs were taped together with her ankles and knees tied extremely tightly together, only allowing her legs only to bend at her hips and knees.

"And done! OW! God dammit!" the one finishing taping her ankles cried out as he was clobbered by a pair of boots to his chest that knocked him to the ground.

"Fucking newb, you just got owned!" one of his buddies taunted.

"The fuck? Who are you idiots?! Why are you doing this?!" June angrily growled as she felt the grip around her neck loosen as she was dropped to the ground on her left side.

"What now?" one of the Zealots asked his comrades as they stood up and now realized they hadn't planned this far in advance.

"I don't know," several voices said at once.

"You morons untie me right now!" she tried ordering again.

"Maybe she's with the Reds, let's see what they'll trade for her," one of the Zealots suggested.

"She's not wearing Red!"

"So?"

"She might be a spy."

The Zealots all looked down at her at the word 'spy' and June felt a rock in her gut as she realized what they might do if they came to the, faulty, conclusion that she was a 'Red Spy' whatever that was. Immediately one of the Zealots, their leader by the look of him, judging by the additional add-on on top of his helmet, leaned over her and asked perhaps the stupidest question she could think of.

"Hey, are you a spy?"

Her jaw dropped in complete shock at how stupid these guys were. _Who the fuck asks someone if they're a spy?!_

"Are you some kind of idiot?" she responded back, getting a few chuckles from the other Zealots around her.

"Is that a yes?"

"NO! I'm an officer in the UNSC Navy!" she yelled back, and then saw the leader cock his head in a curious look.

"What's that?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, these idiots were completely hopeless in her eyes. Yet she'd been placed in charge of them! What next?

"She's not talking, that means she's a spy. Spies never talk!"

"Guilty!"

"Guilty!"

"Guilty!"

The loud chanting snapped her out of her despairing revelation as one of them kneeled down behind her and tore off another piece of tape that she had no intention of ever allowing to be placed.

"Oh no you…OW!"

Her hair was yanked back by the Zealot roughly, sending waves of sharp pain through her scalp. Before she was able to recover the Zealot slapped on the long strip of blue duct tape and pressed it securely against her lips and jaw line. The sticky tape pulled against her lips as she tried to get the damned stuff off but it held fast. A few locks of hair had gotten snagged when the tape was applied and she could feel her hair follicles protesting painfully as she lashed out vainly as a pair of Zealots tried picking her up while the others started walking off. They easily picked up her light body and placed her over one of the Zealot's shoulders and the walked off. She was facing the opposite way they were taking her and more than once the Zealot about dropped her. This was obviously the first time they had done this because he awkwardly held her, trying very hard not to put his hand in a spot that might have come across as him trying to grope her. But she was already pissed off, nothing short of releasing her and court martial would have made her any less infuriated.

"Hey can we switch, I'm tired," the one holding her groaned, panting heavily.

"We just started, she can't be that heavy," their leader replied.

"Hemph!" June muffled loudly at the supposed joke about her weight.

"We're almost back anyway, just man up!"

The Zealot groaned and readjusted her weight on his shoulder and trudged on, keeping to the rear of the formation as they laughed, joked, and talked about things she was completely unable to understand. But their laughter soon ended as the halted and seemed to settle into an uneasy silence, she heard several rifles click as the charging handles were yanked back and then she heard a voice. This time a normal voice of a woman in front of the Zealots.

"Hey ya fellas, who's first?"

Immediately June heard every single one of the Blue armored soldiers yell out at the top of their lungs.

"CHARGE!"

She was dropped abruptly and landed on her back with a fairly hard thud. She groaned as she tried to regain the breath that had been knocked out of her and struggled to sit up. Looking up she saw and heard the battle roaring in front of her. Rifle fire roared through the corridor as the ten Zealots surged forward firing their weapons wildly at a pair of darkly armored soldiers in what appeared to be a more modern suit of armor but still not the standard issue armor she was familiar with. The two soldiers fired relentlessly and expertly into the horde of Zealots charging them and ran forward themselves, taking out several of the Blue soldiers before they even got close to hand to hand combat. The one in black easily dodged an amateur swing with an Assault Rifle and fired several rounds from an SMG into his chest at close range. He flew back into another of his comrades when she punched the limp body brutally and knocked the second one out of the fight. She then spun around another of them and grabbed his arm and slammed him into the wall in one smooth but brutal motion. The gray and yellow soldier was less flashy, but just as deadly. He easily clubbed one of the Zealots who lurched backwards as another of one tried clubbing the gray guy from behind. But he easily saw this coming and ducked under the blow and spun around fired two quick bursts that finished both soldiers quickly and cleanly.

Lieutenant Athens was amazed at the skill just exhibited before her by these mysterious newcomers and squirmed to get herself into a sitting position to try and attract their attention.

"Tex, look," the gray guy said as soon as he saw her sit up.

"So that's what the Frigate was doing here," the black armored soldier responded nonchalantly as both walked over to her and slung their rifles to their backs and proceeded to untie her.

"Thanks," was the first word from out of June's mouth when the tape was peeled off of her mouth.

"Who are you?" the woman asked as she cut the tape on her ankles with a large knife.

"Lieutenant June Athens, UNSC Navy, I was assigned to take command of a platoon of soldiers stationed on this satellite. Who are you guys?" she responded.

"Agent Washington, formerly of Project Freelancer," the man curtly replied as he finished cutting the binds on her wrists.

"Agent Texas," the woman introduced herself as she held up a hand to help Lieutenant to her feet.

"Freelancer? Reds, Blues, idiots that don't know what the UNSC is? What is going on here?"

"Oh you've got a lot to learn Lieutenant."

**Big Z: That'll do it for this one folks.**

**Sarge: That was…weird. Where'd these guys come from?**

**Carmen: More importantly, when can I kill them?**

**Hawaii: Chill Carpy, them negative waves aren't good for the little dude.**

**Carmen: Shut up hippy.**

**Next Chapter Preview: A little explanation is due, and Lieutenant Athens gets to meet her new "Elite Force."**


	7. Chapter 7

**BIG Z: Okay, this didn't take too long did it? **

**Monty: Not as long as I thought mate.**

**Sheila: Although there were several ways you could have been more effective in using your time.**

**BIG Z: Oh shut up Sheila, and how did you two get in here?**

**Monty: We're tanks mate, if there isn't room we make room.**

**BIG Z: I swear if you destroyed my wall…**

**SHOUTOUT! This one is to my alumni, Texas A&M! Gig 'em Aggies! Let's keep up the great football and academics and pride. My friends in the Corp, don't worry getting up at five a.m. will have its benefits.**

Chapter 7

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

0145 Hours

Neutral Territory

Tex pounded her armored fist on the door belonging to the teams' pilots and medics loudly to wake them up and alert them to the situation. At least that's what Tex told Lieutenant Athens. Tex simply wanted to get the young officer off her hands and then go to bed and worry about it in the morning. After the metallic echo died away and no answer was heard for a few seconds Tex knocked again, this time more forcefully. This time however the metal door slid open and there stood in a gray tank top and black basketball shorts the not too happy Four-Seven-Niner.

"What?" an exhausted and grumpy Four-Seven answered the door.

"We've got a guest," Tex motioned to June who was standing with her bags next to her, along with the metallic case she was told held a very important object.

"A guest huh?" Four-Seven replied with an air of fake interest.

"Actually I'm this unit's new Commanding Officer, I have orders from Admiral Lawrence, the Commander of all UNSC forces in…"

"We get it," Four-Seven cut her off, "What was your name again?"

June hesitated at the gruff and care free nature of these soldiers and took a moment before remembering her tongue, "My name, soldier, is Lieutenant June Athens, now, what about you? Name and rank?"

"Well look what the cat dragged in," a very happy voice piped up from behind Four-Seven, "Hey guys!"

"Hey Doc," Tex and Wash responded with groans.

"Who's this? New recruit?"

"New officer," Wash responded.

"Oh cool, hi, I'm Medical Officer Frank Dufraisne," Doc introduced himself.

"Lieutenant June Athens," she replied back, returning her first truly warm reception with a courteous smile.

"Hey listen, it's late and things have been sorta…odd around here," Four-Seven said, yawning loudly.

"I'll say, turns out the Zealots are stationed here Four-Seven, watch your step. They already tried kidnapped her," Wash responded, pointing vaguely at June.

"Hey! They jumped me, and I wasn't about to shoot a fellow UNSC soldier," she responded.

"Eh you shoot those guys all you want, they'll bounce back in about an hour or two."

"Although we'll definitely have to set some ground rules, I really don't feel comfortable talking about religion in the work place," Doc said.

"Tell me about it, I couldn't stand those idiots the last time we met them, it's always flag this, flag that, I mean, what else do they think about?" Tex added on.

"Ahem, still standing here, care to fill me in on what the fuck you guys are talking about!"

"Chill out Lieutenant, we can talk in the morning, Doc, can you help her settle in? Of course you can good night everyone," Four-Seven said rapidly and disappeared back into her room.

"Who is she?" June growled angrily at the rude attitude of the woman.

"Oh she's one of our pilots," Doc replied, "Yeah we don't get many visitors out here."

"Alright, we'll be back in the morning with the rest of the Blues so you can be properly introduced," Tex said walking out with Wash still outside.

"Hey Doc, there's a Warthog comin' this way from Red Base," Wash said as they started walking away.

"A Warthog? Great, wonder what the Reds did this time," Doc said as he walked towards the door, "Oh, I'm sorry do you mind if I take care of this first, kinda important."

"That's fine Medical Officer," June responded tactfully.

"You can just call me Doc," he replied warmly.

Doc walked into the door frame as a Warthog with two people in it wearing black shirts and red digital fatigues pulled up to the door itself. The Warthog wasn't a standard variant, it was one of the rare Gauss 'Hogs used by Spec Ops forces or officers with the right connections.

"Hey Doc, you got a minute?" a man with three red stripes on his shoulder said gruffly getting up out of the Warthog, "Carmen got jumped by the Zealots. They tried to kidnap her but my Hippy found 'em out and we took care of them."

"Oh yeah Sarge, here Carmen come on in," Doc said, stepping out of the way of a woman with two red stripes on her shoulders. _A Corporal and a Sergeant, finally, some real NCO's,_ June gratefully thought as the two new arrivals walked in and saw her.

"Whoa, who're you?" Sarge asked as he walked in carrying a Shotgun at his side.

"Seriously, does it say Lieutenant anywhere on my uniform?!" June groaned.

"Oh you're an officer!" Carmen snapped off a salute and was soon followed by Sarge who simply stood to attention with his Shotgun at his chest. June felt a sense of relief that these soldiers at least had the competency to salute an officer on sight.

"Thank you Corporal."

"And ma'am it actually doesn't say Lieutenant on your uniform at all," Sarge mentioned once he was allowed to properly reply.

"I guess it doesn't," June grumbled as she surveyed her armor, "Anyway, what's the problem with her?"

"She just about kidnapped by a group of nut cases we call the…"

"The Zealots, I just had a run in with those Blue idiots as well."

"The Blues? We were attacked by the Red Zealots!" Sarge responded.

"What?! There're more of them?" June said disbelievingly.

"Like I said earlier, you'll be up to speed tomorrow when you meet with everyone," Doc said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Okay Carmen let's take a look at you and your baby."

"Baby?" June said, perking up at the word.

"Oh yeah, Corporal Carmen here is pregnant, gotta stay on top of that type of thing, especially when you just got attacked like that."

June was absolutely silent for a moment, too much was happening too fast. She needed to lie down; better yet she needed a beer and then lay down with the beer. _What the Hell is wrong with this place, soldiers attacking one another, attempted kidnappings, and idiots that can revive themselves?_ Her legs buckled and all the toils of the past hour finally crashed down on top of her like a ton of bricks and she totally passed out. Her armored body went completely rag doll and sprawled out on the carpeted ground with the Reds and Doc staring awkwardly.

"Uh…what just happened here?"

Carmen groaned and walked over to the now unconscious June, "Have you idiots ever seen a girl faint before? Jeez, you guys are clueless."

"Let's get her in bed, she sure looks like she needs it," Doc said as he and Sarge went to lift her up.

0945 Local Time

Lieutenant June Athens

A slight buzzing noise made June stir a bit as she lay in a soft bed that she automatically realized was not there when she last remembered being conscious. The room she found herself in was dark, with a small night light of sorts on the bottom of the wall near what she thought was a door across from her. Her eyes felt heavy with exhaustion as she tried to wake up. Sitting up she didn't hear the clicking and shuffling her armor plates should have made and when she looked down she saw that her armor was gone replaced by the simple fatigues she had been wearing underneath the armor. Her face flushed as she remembered what had happened before she woke up in this bed. _Who took off my armor and carried me here? _

She needed to get some answers, now. Her hand reached out trying to find a light switch so she could find her armor but her hand made contact with a metal case and sent it flying to the floor. She jumped when the case opened loudly on the carpet floor and instantly a flash of blue jumped out from a projector inside the suit case and a large avatar in the shape of a young woman flashed into existence. Her long hair was red with thousands of logic symbols scrolling through the strands, she had green glowing eyes that gazed outwards emotionless and unseeing. Her body was "clothed" in what appeared to be a blue night gown of sorts that shimmered and waved in an imaginary breeze.

"Hello, I am UNSC A.I. designation 19345A-909. You may call me Vivian," her calm young voice said in an almost soothing and motherly type of voice.

"An A.I. was in that case?" June whispered to herself.

"Yes Lieutenant, I am assigned to assist you here as your battlefield and logistics support artificial intelligence unit," Vivian replied, this time looking straight at June.

"You…you know my name?" June asked, quite a bit surprised.

"Oh I know quite a bit about you Lieutenant Athens. I know that you graduated from the UNSC Naval Academy on Reach four weeks and three days ago as fourth in your class of one thousand two hundred and twelve cadets with a combined GPA of 3.97., not bad."

"Not bad? I worked my ass off to get those grades!" June snapped back.

"Still, it's not perfect," Vivian replied coyly, her face breaking into a mischievous smile.

"Why you…"

As she was about to continue a soft knock came from the door across from June who still sat on her bed with the bray sheets still on her lap.

"It seems you have company Lieutenant," the A.I. grinned and shimmered for a split second then disappeared into the glowing holographic projector still in the brief case.

"Ma'am, it's Doc. You alright?" came the soft polite voice of the medical officer she had met last night.

"I…I'm fine," June replied, swinging her legs off of the bed and stood up, and started feeling for a light switch.

It didn't take long before she had the lights of the room on and she was able to finally take in the room she had awoken in. What she found herself in was nicer than any officer's quarters she had ever seen. The room was large for a military room, being fifteen feet by perhaps twenty feet with the bed she had being in corner of the room with a night stand and lamp on both sides. A large cabinet with long drawers was built into wall a few feet away. A couch was in front of a decently sized TV a few feet away against the opposite wall near a desk and chair on the opposite side of another door that was partly open revealing what looked like a full bathroom. There was a curtained window next to the bed of a fairly large size. A closet was partly open with her bags of personal things and armor lying next to it. She walked over and grabbed her boots and quickly laced them up and then grabbed the case containing Vivian and snapped it shut and placed it on the desk.

"Hey Lieutenant, breakfast is ready, you know what they say, it's the most important meal of the day," Doc was heard again outside her door.

"Thanks, I'll be right out," June replied, remembering a little something called food that her stomach was making stern demands for.

So she walked to the door and waved her hand over the scanner and the metal door slid open quickly and she walked out as the door shut behind her. She found herself in a short hallway that seemed to lead right into the common area of wherever she was. Voices were audible as she finally walked in to see that no one was there. Light filtered through the large window that made up the bulk of the wall to her left and gave a fairly nice feel to the common area. There were several couches of a couple colors facing either the window or a large TV on the side of the room with a few glass coffee tables set up in front of the couches. A carpet lay underneath a few of the couches over plain white freckled tiles in a couple unique patterns. There were also a few seats against the wall where a door with a glass window revealed a few medical instruments on the other side.

"Good morning Lieutenant," a loud female voice said from a side hallway.

June turned to see a small young woman wearing a white lab coat with light blue hospital scrubs on underneath the lab coat. Her black hair was neatly tied into a tight bun on the back of her head and she had obviously put on a little make-up.

"Oh, good morning," June responded, trying to figure out why this person wasn't in uniform, "Who are you?"

"What? Oh my name…I'm Courtney Anderson," she replied back.

"And your rank?"

"Oh…uh…I don't have one per se," she smiled weakly rubbing the back of her neck, trying to figure out her next move.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I'm technically a civilian, a surgeon actually, Doc kinda invited me," she said, careful with her choice of words.

"Invited you? How'd he…"

"Oh there you are," the happy go-lucky voice of Doc echoed as the man walked around the corner wearing an identical suit of armor to the one that Tex and Wash wore when they helped June out of that pickle with the Zealots, "I hope you're hungry, because there's plenty of eggs, pancakes, and orange juice to feed an army."

"I guess we can finish this later? I have some moving in to do, a lot of inventory of the medical supplies we've got," Courtney said as she shuffled towards the infirmary door.

"Yeah, um…sure," June said as Doc beckoned her to the cafeteria.

"Come on, you need to meet Vic and Four-Seven," Doc said as she followed him into the large cafeteria.

The place was fairly large with a good half dozen tables scattered about with four to six chairs at each one of them. The air signaled the presence of fresh food over to the right with the wafting scent of pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits, and other assorted foods. June followed her stomach and went to the buffet style set up and grabbed a tray and a pair of plates and started putting together her breakfast. She saw Doc walk over to the drink stand and pour himself some orange juice and sit down at a table where a man and a woman in light weight pilot armor were already eating. She quickly grabbed a cup and poured a tall glass of what the dispenser said was grape juice. She took her tray and sat down next to Doc and saw the pilots stop eating and look at her curiously, she recognized the woman with the black hair, but she didn't remember a name. Her pilot armor was white, not exactly standard issue, with a few painted on additions of a few different symbols she didn't immediately recognize. The man however seemed fairly normal, olive green armor, short brown hair, and he had a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"So…you're that new officer dudette Four-Seven told me about," he rattled off in a squeaky, nearly obnoxious voice, "I'm Vic, one of the pilots."

"Lieutenant June Athens, and I take it you're Four-Seven?" June responded, looking at the woman as she took a drink of coffee.

"My real name is Stephanie, but my call sign is Four-Seven-Niner, just call me Four-Seven for short," she said with a cocky tone in her voice common of all pilots.

"Nice to meet you," June said, taking a bite of some fairly tasty pancakes.

"If you don't me asking, what're you doing here? We weren't told about an officer being assigned to us," Four-Seven asked suspiciously.

"I was just told to take command of a platoon of soldiers stationed on some satellite, I didn't know why, just like I don't know why a bunch of Blue idiots jumped me and tried to kidnap me," she grumbled.

"The Blues attacked you?" Vic snapped.

"No Zealots did," Doc responded, "but Wash and Tex managed to bail her out."

Four-Seven started choking on a bite of a biscuit at the word 'Zealot' and coughed violently until Vic slapped her hard on the back and she managed to clear her windpipe.

"Zealots?! They're here?!" she crowed.

"And the Red ones too, they tried to kidnap Corporal Carmen last night as well. Don't worry Sarge and the others managed to take care of them. He says he put Shotgun on guard duty, for some reason the Zealots are scared of him, don't know why, he seemed like a nice dog last night."

"Dog? The Reds got a dog? Sweet…" Vic chuckled as Four-Seven rolled her eyes.

"When are these guys going to show up? I want to get started here as soon as possible," June said as she remembered that the other squads were supposed to show up today for a meet and greet.

"Sarge said the Reds would be here around ten, the Blues wanted to take care of a few things before showing up, something about checking for booby traps?" Doc answered.

"Booby traps? Wait…let me guess, the Reds?" June half guessed.

"Dude she learns quick," Vic happily said with a big grin on his face.

She hadn't wanted to hear that, but then again, she'd seen enough odd things to last the rest of her career within the space of a night and a day. And the day had just begun. Their meal continued rather normally, she learned quite bit about them as they ate in peace. She came to realize Doc and Courtney were "together" and that Vic and Four-Seven seemed to be quite attracted to one another. Her meal finished, June placed the tray and her plates and cup in the automatic dish washer and went to her room to put on a fresh uniform and wash up a bit before the Reds and Blues showed up.

"So…how'd it go?" the voice of Vivian greeted her as she walked into her room and shut the door.

"How did you…" June whispered as she saw the A.I. appear on her desk.

"Oh I hacked into the satellite's systems, no biggie," the hologram smiled innocently as June began to unpack her clothes and personal items, "turns out that there are a bunch of A.I. projectors all over the satellite, I can appear anywhere I want, within reason of course."

"Do the others know you even exist?" June replied, curious to know if Vivian had revealed herself.

"Not yet, I was hoping you would do that for me."

"I will, alert me when the Reds are here. I need to clean up," June ordered as she laid out her bathroom supplies and towels.

"Actually they're already here, two Warthogs and a Scorpion M-808S Main Battle Tank. Hmm…curious," Vivian contemplated.

"What? They're here already?" June stuttered as she was about to start getting her fresh clothes set out.

"Yes they have just pulled up, they're getting out of their vehicles now, with at least ten others on foot. Oh…a canine is with them, how interesting."

"I don't need a play by play Vivian," June growled, a little peeved she didn't get her chance to clean up and look presentable to her new troops.

"Now can I meet everyone?" Vivian inquired childishly, her holographic eyes forming into puppy dog eyes trying to sway June to let her be introduced.

"I guess, here, transfer yourself to this, I'll let you introduce yourself when we start out," June said opening up the suit case and taking out the specialized projector from the case.

"Whoohoo!" Vivian cheered as her holographic form appeared to walk onto it.

June looked over at her armor still in the closet and decided not to wear it, and walked out of her room as she saw Vic and Four-Seven walk out the door she was aiming to walk out herself to meet the so called Red Team.

"Whoa! Where'd all this stuff come from?" Four-Seven practically yelled seeing the immense amount of equipment that had been deposited in their hanger overnight.

"This new stuff is courtesy of the UNSC. Apparently, this unit is supposed to actually fulfill an actual mission here," June answered her, walking up behind her and Vic.

"What kind of mission demands we have six dropships, two of them being those flying crates you call Albatrosses, and who knows how much of that stuff that's covering the deck?" Four-Seven asked a bit further.

"Well I'll tell you when I know that myself. In the meantime, let's meet the troops shall we?" June said walking out to see quite an interesting sight.

Before her were twenty-one soldiers wearing that same heavy armor she had seen everyone else in so far. Each of them was in some sort of shade of Red, there were red, orange, maroon, pink, brown and even a gray soldier. She could see that there were also ten smaller soldiers in identical red armor to the ones that assaulted her last night tied with their hands behind their backs and their helmets were sulking around looking at the ground as they waited for something to happen that would let them out of their odd predicament. June immediately guessed these were the Red Zealots that attempted to kidnap that Red Corporal that was…_I have a soldier who's pregnant?! _She immediately felt the urge to complete collapse again from realizing that stunning realization like she did the last time. But then she stopped herself, snapping her swimming mind out of its woe is me state and focused on the task at hand. It was a fairly simple one, nothing too complex about it, meet the troops.

"Attention!" the easily recognizable voice of Sarge bellowed as June walked out into the hanger as the Reds were milling about looking at the enormous stacks of gear that had appeared as if by magic.

"What're you talking about Sarge, there's no…" an orange and maroon soldier, groaned indignantly.

"Then who's that genius?" another girl in maroon and orange armor pointed at her.

"Oh…shit."

The Zealots seemed to ogle at her oddly, as if they had never seen a uniform like hers. Or it was the fact that she was without her armor and it wasn't her face they were looking at.

"At ease, I see that introductions are in order," June started, but hesitated as she saw that the tank's turret was aimed right between her eyes, "…uh why is that tank aiming at me?"

"Well excuse me for being polite ma'am," a thick Australian voice snapped back sarcastically.

"Did…did that tank just talk?"

"Yes Lieutenant, that is no ordinary tank," Vivian suddenly popped up from the holo-projector she held in her left hand, "That is the extraordinarily rare M-808 Scorpion Model-S Main Battle Tank. Also known as the Smart Tank, very intriguing."

"Whoa!" several of the Reds jumped as Vivian revealed herself.

"Oh, this is Vivian, this unit's new command and control A.I. and I'm Lieutenant June Athens, here to take command of this post and this unit."

"Including the Blues?" Carmen asked.

"Yes, including the Blues, and them," June pointed at the Zealots who perked up at being acknowledged for the first time.

"Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves, we met last night, I'm Sarge, this is Corporal Carmen," Sarge stepped forward to start the introductions.

"I'm Private Dick Simmons," a man I maroon armor stepped forward.

"I'm Private Lisa Peterson," the girl in maroon and orange armor said.

"Private Liz Peterson," the orange and maroon girl added.

"Private Dexter Grif," the orange one said.

"Hi, I'm Private Kate Waters," the pink and white girl added, her voice a seriously high pitch.

"I'm Private Franklin Donut," the pink armored man stepped forward.

"Wassup I'm Agent Hawaii," a truly titanic man in red and orange armor flashed her some sort of surfer hand sign.

"I'm Agent Alaska ma'am," a shorter woman in white and gray armor nodded respectfully to her.

June looked to a man in brown armor keeping an eye on the Zealots, he sort of seemed uncomfortable but finally turned and made his introduction.

"_Hello, my name is Lopez and I hate all of them_."

June thought this soldier was playing some sort of joke on her but the tone of his Spanish words seemed robotic and completely unlike any human. But before June could even speak Vivian stepped up again and saved the day.

"Well, well, well, a robot, programmed to speak only Spanish, interesting indeed I'll need to learn more about him."

"And that's our squad," Sarge grumbled, not really sure what to do in the meantime.

"Thank you Sarge, it's good to meet everyone," June responded politely, "I'd like to ask you all a few questions about who you are. I've never seen a unit quite this…unconventional."

"Oh right, questions…" Sarge grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, ma'am we're the Reds, we're not really the ones to ask. You'd want the Blues, they know all about Project Freelancer and could better answer your questions," Simmons added.

"Why do you say that Private?" June asked curiously.

"Let's just say our adventures always started with one of the Blues," Carmen said awkwardly.

June nodded suspiciously and looked back up at them, "Alright, that's fair. When the Blues get here I expect a full briefing. While we wait, there are a bunch of crates filled with equipment that need a home, so chop chop. Time to get to work."

"Aww… but there's like several tons of this stuff! Where're we supposed to put all of it?" Liz groaned.

"And I don't see any forklifts just lying around," Grif added.

"Actually, there are fifteen tons of equipment, weapons, fuel, ammunition, and communications gear in the manifest. And the satellite's mainframe indicates that there is a system of cranes designed to move heavy loads throughout the main corridor. I'd say you have plenty of muscle available," Vivian pointed out happily as the Reds stared at their immense task of organizing every single one of the over two hundred crates of stuff that they needed to move to a secure room.

"You heard her, get to work."

The Reds all begrudgingly got to work, mumbling about how they should have stuck to answering questions.

"Carmen, wait…you're pregnant, I don't think Doc would like me having you work like the rest of the Reds," June ordered, "I want you to see if you can get those cranes over here and try to find a few secure areas to put all of this stuff."

"But I'm not…" June gave her the 'that's an order' look and Carmen stopped her protests.

"I also need someone to give me an idea of what to do with these Zealots and to help with the actual organizing of the equipment, I'm told that much of it is quite volatile," June reasoned quietly, trying to smooth the feathers of a pretty grumpy young NCO.

"Yes ma'am," Carmen grumbled, "but first, you may want to see something about the Zealots. We only discovered it last night, and well. It's a doozy."

Carmen walked over to the Zealots who immediately looked up at her. She kneeled down and grabbed a hold of one of their helmets and thumbed the release on it and pulled the helmet off the one on the end of the line. What June saw was quite interesting. What she was looking at was a kid, probably barely even fourteen or fifteen years old. His face was a bit glum, and a bit mad. But the childlike softness of his face along with the very long brown hair, slight abnormalities both women remembered as pimples and zits, and the fiery indignation in his eyes just bled youth and exuberance.

"What the…I don't understand he's a kid!" June nearly yelled.

"Hey! I'm not a squeaker…not anymore."

"Simmons downloaded their mission logs from their helmets. Turns out they're a group of volunteers from sort of experimental military JROTC program. Their armor is the early model of ours, but it's been augmented with what Lisa called a healing unit. That's how they're able to revive themselves," Carmen said.

"And they're behavior?" June asked as Carmen replaced the helmet.

"Simmons and Lisa agreed that it was repeated exposure to the healing unit's effects. I just think they're crazy as Hell."

"Please don't send us away, we like it here!" he groaned pathetically.

"Please…"

"We like it here!"

"We promise we won't try anything bad, we swear to flag!"

"Swear to flag?" June half asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Well, I'm willing to give you lot a chance, but if you screw it up…" she trailed off, her point quite clear as the Zealots began to eagerly nod their heads, "okay, untie them Corporal."

"If you idiots so much as look at me funny I'll shove my shotgun up my your ass!" she hissed as she started cutting the zip-ties on the Zealots' wrists.

"Come my brothers, let us to the task at hand!" their leader bellowed loudly as he and the rest of the Zealots ran off to get to work.

The Reds were already arguing about something as they worked under Vivian's supervision and began to see that they were indeed gifted quite a few new toys. Sarge came across a crate filled with a type of weapon he had not seen before, but when Simmons saw it he figured it out.

"SAW huh? Sarge this is a machine gun," Simmons pointed out.

"Obviously command mislabeled it, apparently we're supposed to have a crate filled with saws for cutting stuff. Thanks a bunch equipment gods, you managed to confuse a machine gun for a saw," Sarge grumbled walking away to see what was inside the next crate.

"No Sarge these're…never mind."

As the Reds worked they found that the crates contained all manner of things that a unit needs and doesn't need but could actually use. There were a few crates filled with sandbags, a few with bundles of high strength rope, a bunch of tool cases, tanks of pressurized gases such as oxygen, hydrogen, helium, methane, and propane. What they would have used any of that for. There were a few spotlights disassembled in large boxes, a bunch of smaller boxes filled with several types of explosives, ranging from foaming explosive in a can to blocks of C-12 industrial explosives and even rows of claymores. They found tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, laptop computers, and holographic projectors.

"Hey, what's this?" Donut asked as he found a small crate with the label: Content Scanner, written on top of it.

"That, Private Donut, is the most important tool this outpost will have in its coming assignment," Vivian appeared right by his shoulder and explained lightheartedly.

"What does it do?" Kate asked as she opened it carefully and saw the saran wrapped pistol like devices.

"They detect items ranging from weaponry to drugs to even life forms. Customs Officials use them to inspect ingoing and outgoing cargo at ship yards and checkpoints," Vivian replied candidly.

Before Donut could ask the next question lights glared off of his visor and he saw the convoy of Blue vehicles come from around the corner. There were actually more Blue vehicles than they had remembered showing up with when the group had arrived. Then again, there were more Blues. With the usual Blues were the Zealots, tied up in the back of a Troop 'Hog and a standard Warthog. Apparently the blues had been busy.

"Sorry about the wait Reds, we had to go collect these guys from where Tex and Wash said they had locked them up in," Lea greeted nonchalantly as she stepped out with the rest of Blues.

"What're you guys doin' where'd all this shit come from?" Tucker asked, seeing all the crates that the Reds were just starting to organize by their content.

"New stuff for our 'mission' whatever the Hell that means," Grif groaned as he and Simmons dropped a box next to a stack of similar boxes.

"Apparently we not only got some new equipment we also got a new Commanding Officer, straight out of the academy and green as a leaf," Sarge added, walking out of the mess of crates, boxes, and pallets.

"What? We have to have a new commander?" Jenny groaned.

"Yes you do," an unfamiliar voice said from above the Blues as a large platform rolled into sight, a large platform beneath it hanging from industrial strength cables, "Lieutenant June Athens, green as a leaf," she mocked, getting to Sarge to shuffle his feet awkwardly.

"I see you found that crane, should make getting our equipment to a warehouse much simpler," Vivian suddenly appeared next to June.

"Is that an A.I.?" Church asked, he himself not very comfortable at all.

"You should know Epsilon, you're one yourself. As well as you Tex, and another tank A.I., wow, I'll sure have a lot of company!"

The entire Blue Team and Red Team were completely silent. June realized that apparently the A.I. had really overstepped some sort of line here, now she was paying the penalty.

"Vivian, shut up please."

"I guess we should go sit down somewhere and tell her huh?" Tex sighed.

"Let's go inside Lieutenant. We'll explain everything," Church agreed, the whole of Blue Team including the Zealots followed their lead as the Red Team sort of stood off to the side.

"Sarge can I do another one of my plays for her?"

"God dammit Donut."

**BIG Z: Alright, another chapter in the books! Now, the plot will begin to pick up, that is after I figure out how to condense the Blood Gulch Chronicles, the Recollection, and the Freelancer events from seasons 9 and 10 into one chapter.**

**Church: Good luck with that.**

**Donut: Don't worry, I have a script and everything! I'll do it.**

**BIG Z: Donut you were dead for a whole season.**

**Donut: But Kate and I even made costumes!**

**Next Chapter Preview: Red vs Blue 101, remedial awesomeness. Class in session.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Liz: Please don't let Kate cast us in another play.**

**Lisa: We beg you!**

**BIG Z: Too late.**

**Lisa: You sadistic bastard!**

**SHOUTOUT: Hey everyone, I wanted to give a shoutout to an author I've been working with to put out a quick fun story. She's an outstanding writer and really prolific writer. She probably has written the most RVB stories out of anyone here. Her name is PetchricorxConstellation. Fave and subscribe to her for amazing RVB!**

Chapter 8

Agriculture Satellite _Plentiful_ in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

1015 Hours

Neutral Territory

"The Red versus Blue Players presents a Franklin Donut and Kate Waters Production Written by Kate Waters and Directed by Franklin Donut," Donut's monologue voice said loudly as the young man came out onto the 'stage' that in fact was just a raised portion of the briefing room that Vivian had pointed out to them as they decided where they were going to go.

Donut and Kate had somehow switched out into a tuxedo and pink halter top dress, respectively, in the few minutes that the duo had been aware that they were going to tell Lieutenant Athens all about the Reds, Blues, and Freelancers. At the moment the two were out on stage with Carmen, the Zealots, Four-Seven, Alaska, and Courtney out in the crowd. Donut had offered up wine and cheese but was turned down, much to his dismay.

"Ahem, we start our humble play in the office of the Director of Project Freelancer, where his evil plan has begun…"

"Evil plan?! He was just trying to…" Church hissed loudly but was quickly shushed by Lea.

"Don't get her started dude," Liz growled, "you'll never hear the end of it."

Donut went on and their "play" to explain their own history began, rather oddly.

First up was Church, "Hi, I'm the Director of Project of Freelancer, I am the one who started all of this. You see, in the beginning Project Freelancer was getting started, he…I mean I, had recruited fifty men and women that would save humanity. But after numerous experiments…uh…shit what was that line?" Church hesitated.

"You're supposed to say," Kate cut in, switching to a deeper voice, "But my experiments were not enough, the Freelancers needed training."

"That's not how it…you know fuck it, never mind. To train the Freelancers two groups of soldiers were recruited," the Reds and Blues trudged onto the stage, with Caboose facing the opposite direction of everyone else.

"One of those was Red," Sarge said proudly, receiving cheers from the Red Zealots in the crowd, but at the same time the Blue Zealots immediately began to start booing.

"Fuck you guys, Red sucks."

"Hey! Shut it Bluetard before I…" Carmen growled, stepping forward.

"Corporal…" Kate whined.

"One was good," Church said, getting the evil eye from Donut, "and they were Blue."

Tex stepped out, "the purpose of Red and Blue Army was to run through different training scenarios for Freelancer Agents, who would be sent in occasionally to run these scenarios."

"Blue versus Red," Caboose cut in.

"Shut up Caboose!"

"And that brings us to our story," Donut said, but no one moved behind him, "guys that's your cue to scene two."

Everyone grumbled and walked off the stage except for the Red Team guys. They proceeded to attempt to act out their misadventures with Blue Team and Tex, going through everything from Church's deaths, Tex's death, their return, and finally their run-in with O'Malley. Needless to say, June was a little confused and dumbfounded. And the long musical number by Donut didn't help her mood either.

"Wait hold on," June stood up, "you're telling me that you…"

"Audience please hold all questions till the end, ma'am," Donut nicely but firmly replied.

Then Agent Washington came onto the stage, it was obvious he didn't want to be there. But Donut walked out and took center stage to say the next part of their adventure.

"Many months after the events of Blood Gulch we all split up, reassigned to different bases and outposts. But little did we know that evil was approaching," Donut said.

"I'm Agent Washington, also known as Recovery One. I had been on the trail of a rogue Freelancer called the Meta that had been attacking my fellow Freelancers and stealing their A.I. and equipment. This is where I come into the story. So I had to start by finding soldiers with experience dealing with A.I. and that's how I met these guys."

"Caboose, you're on," Donut pushed the loveable idiot onto the stage.

"Walk onto stage, face Washingtub."

"Are you Private Caboose?" Washington unenthusiastically asked Caboose.

"Nods, yes, I am Caboose."

"Caboose! You're not supposed to say the parts in bold," Donut groaned.

"You said to say everything next to my name."

"No not that part, never mind next scene, our intrepid heroes encounter the Meta, the most evil, villainous, and dangerous of all our enemies! His size was awe-inspiring, his weapon terrifying, and his low dark growl would make you faint," Donut voiced in his darkest most menacing voice.

But from behind him the very sound he described broke the silence. A low dark growling hiss emanated from behind Donut that carried throughout the whole room.

"Wow that was really good…" Donut perked up as he turned around to compliment what he thought was someone else copying the Meta's growl. But when he brought his eyes onto the source of the voice he froze. Standing before him in the massive white armor, and EVA helmet that the whole Blood Gulch crew had learned to fear was the Meta. He looked down at Donut with his emotionless visor and growled again menacingly.

"You're…you're…" Donut couldn't control himself any longer. He simply went limp and fainted.

"Meta?!" Wash yelled as he pulled his pistol from his thigh and pointed it at the immense figure standing right in front of him.

The rest of the Reds, Blues, and Freelancers immediately grabbed the nearest weapon and moved to surround him. But surprisingly, the menacing Freelancer didn't so much as assume a defensive posture. The now very alert Reds and Blues were fighting off the urge to tremble in fear while the Freelancers basically fought off the urge to attack.

Maine looked right at Wash and cocked his head to the side curiously, making a soft growl.

"Don't play dumb Meta, you'd have to be stupid to think I'll believe that," Washington hissed.

"What'd he say?" Sarge asked without looking away from Maine.

"He asked why I called him Meta."

"Okay, now that is stupid," Liz replied.

"Hold on!" June ordered, "Stand down."

"Ma'am I know we didn't get all the way through the play but…" Simmons whined.

"I said stand down, I want to at least hear him out," she responded.

"It's the goliath of the sea," one of the Red Zealots piped up, "the silent one."

"Wait…you know him?" Church stumbled.

"Fuck yeah, we saved him and he…"

"Then you would know that he's dangerous!" Tex snapped at them.

Maine growled again at Wash who immediately snapped back at him.

"As if Meta! Stop playing games with me."

"Agent Washington?" June said.

"He says that all he remembers is waking up in a hospital bed."

"What if he's telling the truth?" Lisa asked, the logical side of her mind starting to take over.

Maine growled again with a bit of a testy tone.

"If you're telling the truth then how are you here?!" Washington hissed.

"He came with us," the Blue Zealots' leader piped up, "He said that he owes us his life and he'd help us out."

"Developed a sense of honor have you?" Tex growled.

Maine shrugged his shoulders, vocalizing again.

"Hmph, I'd have to agree with you there. He said that it was either stay with the Zealots with some easy gig on a satellite or get jailed," Wash said, his guard lowering slightly.

"Does anyone besides the Zealots know you're here?" June asked, walking onto the stage a few yards away from the towering Freelancer.

"You know what, fuck all this asking around I've got an idea," Tex finally snapped. Everyone sort of gave her an odd look and Tex groaned again, "I mean I can just look inside his head and see if he's telling the truth."

"Not so fast Tex, I don't trust him with an A.I. especially considering what his track record is when it comes to A.I.," Wash responded.

"Do it," June ordered, nodding to the black armored Freelancer.

"Alright, here it goes."

Tex's body went stiff as her ghost-self melted out of the armor and then flew soundlessly into Maine's body. He twitched violently for a second and then went still as Tex began to search through his head, seeing exactly if Maine was telling the truth. Tex was shocked to see just how empty Maine's mind really was. All around her were clear signs of complete trauma that must have been plaguing the poor guy. Mental scars seemed to dot his mind, but were covered over. Tex easily found the surprisingly small memories within Maine's mind and carefully opened it. All she saw was a hospital room, a few clips of the Zealots, a suppressed interrogation with men in black suits, a few pictures of dreams in cryogenic stasis, and finally a day's worth of recent memory about how he and the Zealots were here.

To say that Tex was dumbfounded was a bit of an understatement. She had expected some type of trap, but instead she was confronted by an empty mind, devoid of any memory of how he had become the Meta. No, he wasn't the Meta any more, this is Maine.

"Well?" Washington asked once Tex had quickly regained her body.

"He's telling the truth Wash. He doesn't remember any of the events of the past few years, seriously not a thing. In his mind he was aboard the Mother of Invention one day, the next he was in a hospital."

The Reds and Blues seemed to lower their guard and Agent Maine visibly relaxed at not being the subject of so many guns being pointed at him. He looked at June and growled a few seconds.

"He said that he knows what he had been before but he just wants to try and right a few wrongs. He claims he just wants to put it behind him."

"I can accept that," June responded, smiling reassuringly at Maine who visibly relaxed at actually being fairly judged by someone that wasn't a flag worshiping moron.

Maine nodded graciously, and moved aside as June stepped forward. She motioned everyone to take a seat and pulled out her A.I. Vivian who flashed into being right next to her.

"I guess you sort of understand who we are then?" Church tentatively asked.

"Sort of…I think. Okay, let me give it a try. I basically separate you all into four groups, Red Team led by Sarge, Carmen, and whatever your name is," June looked at the Red Zealot with the attachment on his helmet, "the Blue Team, led by Church, Sergey, and…seriously do you guys have names?" June stopped to ask the obvious question.

"Uh…"

"Yeah, we haven't used our names in a long time. We've always been called Red One, Red Two, you know…that kinda shit," the Red Zealot leader spoke up.

"Okay…moving on. Then there's the Freelancers, Agents Texas, Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, and Maine. You all are probably the best fighters here and the ones to call on whenever I need something high risk done…"

"Or you can get Caboose mad," Tucker piped up jokingly.

"Dude shut the Hell up," Church hissed.

"And then there are the neutrals, Doc, Doctor Anderson, Four-Seven-Niner, and Vic. You guys don't really have a side do you?"

"I would prefer not," Four-Seven responded from the back of the large room.

"And you Reds and Blues are basically enemies, but you were also a training tool for the Freelancers, who used all this advanced experimental equipment to create some kind of super soldiers. And in the midst of all this Church, you and Tex are A.I. in robot bodies that are basically here to…" June trailed off, not really clear on that part.

"That's actually pretty close. The rest can be looked up as part of our mission to arrest the Director. We had to go through a whole big debriefing thing when we got back," Carmen replied.

"Well, actually our bodies are human, just without us they're empty shells. They are based off the DNA of the people we were based off of," Tex replied.

"Hold on, what about your teams? Carmen, Sergey, I didn't exactly get to hear your teams' story."

"Um…please don't if you did we'd be here for another few hours," Lea groaned.

"And those are hours we do not have at the moment, excuse me Lieutenant," Vivian interrupted.

"Vivian?" June growled.

"I think I had better say what your orders are now that everyone is present, do you mind?" the avatar looked to June expectantly, who nodded, "It seems that the official orders for this Outpost, codenamed Misfit, are to assist UNSC authorities in the inspection of surplus commercial vessels whenever called upon. Added to these duties are availability for planetary deployment in the event of a military mobilization, seizure of any illegal contraband, and sensor surveillance. And it seems that our first customer has arrived."

"Customer?!" June yelled, mostly in shock that her orders were basically to be a Customs Officer.

"The Galaxy Cruise Liner _Nebula_, three miles in length, a half mile in width, and two thirds mile tall. Standard crew of nine hundred, with passengers numbering over six thousand. Quite a magnificent vessel actually, she will be docked at airlock 16-A in fourteen minutes and thirty four seconds."

"Wait, hold on a cotton-picking minute!" Sarge bellowed, "What do you mean inspect?! We're soldiers, not little policemen."

"Yeah but those are our orders Sarge," Sergey responded mindfully.

"How do we inspect a ship that big though? That'll take forever!" Grif groaned.

"Not with the equipment we have Private," Vivian teased.

"What equipment?" June did a second take, wanting to hear more.

"Oh…just a box full of the latest in military content scanners designed to find anything anywhere in its rather large range," Vivian rattled off smugly.

"Well dudes and dudettes, looks like we have a job to do," Hawaii finally turned to the door with the rest of the group just shrugging and filing out of the room before June could dismiss them.

"Wait…but…I…" June hesitated as she tried to stop them so she could dismiss them.

"It seems these soldiers are going to be quite a challenge," Vivian said.

"You don't say," June responded, slipping her helmet onto her head.

June quickly walked out running up behind the rest of the group as they milled about in the hanger waiting for wherever it was they were supposed to go to meet up with the Nebula. June made certain her prized Navy Magnum was in its holster and looked out over her new command with a vague sense of pride, uncertainty, and angst. She knew that the next tour she would be serving here would be quite different than what she was thinking her first tour of duty would end up being. So now she had to go get her first assignment of her first tour done with perhaps the most unconventional group of idiots she had ever seen. From the incompetent and paranoid Reds, the lazy and bored Blues, to the deadly Freelancer Agents, they were all unique and had their own special charm to them. The Reds always seemed to have only one or two things on their mind at any one time, kill the Blues and work on their vehicles. The Blues seemed to have everything but that on their minds at any one point, always looking out at the wider picture, dragging the Reds along with them in the Reds' quest to win a phony war. The Freelancers had this aura of complete danger about them, yet an atmosphere that conveyed that they wanted nothing to do with the project that made them the deadly warriors they were. Then there were the Zealots, they spoke for themselves.

"Well, let's get this thing done people," June ordered, trying to sound as confident as possible.

"Yes your excellence let the flag be with us!"

CSV Nebula

Red Team

The hatch slid open to reveal the rather plush entrance to the luxury liner that the Reds would have to inspect themselves. Among them were four very effective but very expensive military content scanners held like large pistols with their screens flashing all manner of colors and things that Vivian had been certain to hard wire into them so that they'd alert the Reds to whatever they found.

Off to the left of the Reds were the Blues who walked in through an identical entrance and started to fan out as the Reds got together and decided on how they would be going about the sweep.

"Okay, we only have four of these scanner mabob thingamajigs. So we'll have to get into groups."

"I'm with Donut!" Kate yelped, hugging Donut.

"Alright, Donut and Kate are with Alaska and Hippy, you'll be looking on the left side of the ship. Sarge and I will be with Lopez on the other side of the ship," Carmen said, pointing at a map of the ship in front of them.

The map was holographic, showing a large ship that was built to look like a bulbous whale. It was about a mile in length altogether with wing like sections towards the rear of the ship that contained two of the ship's six massive engines. Glass seemed to perforate the whole ship, giving the large open cavernous decks a place to look out and see the wonders of the galaxy through glass as thicker than battle plate armor on the largest of UNSC warships. Their assigned area of the ship was basically a tube with cabins and state rooms looking out over it and bordering the actual ship's hull with a honey comb of hallways keeping the system of state rooms, bars, restaurants, and shops connected. All of this was basically arranged around a large open space about thirty yards across. There were the occasional bridges that linked the sides together, but apparently they were few but large, being ten yards from railing to railing.

"What about us?" Simmons asked.

"You, the twins, and Grif will sweep the main entertainment deck above ours," Sarge ordered.

"Oh crap," Grif groaned.

"And no elevators Liz, take the stairs. A little workout would do you some good," Carmen grinned sadistically.

"Fuck."

"Whoohoo! New level!" the Zealots were heard hollering as they streamed into the ship directly to the left of the Reds with Maine leading them in, doing his best to control the unruly Red and Blue fanatics.

"And don't go near them!" Carmen growled as the Reds finished their game plan and split up to get straight to their work.

Red Team One (Grif, Simmons, Liz, and Lisa)

Deck 45 Section 12

"Why…do we…have to take…the fucking…stairs?" Liz wheezed as she and Grif struggled to keep up with Lisa and Simmons as they ascended the large flight of elaborately decorated stairs.

"Probably because you haven't worked out since…ever!" Lisa snapped at her sister as Simmons let the scanner do the work of finding anything mysterious.

"Hurry up Simmons," Grif groaned, "I wanna head to those bars."

"Then how about you hurry up!"

The four Reds argued their way up the carpeted corkscrew stairs that had glass panels with exotic lights pulsing blues, greens, reds, purples, and so many other lights that it made their heads hurt. A wall had water dribbling down the whole way, giving a shimmering light to the whole area. It all seemed fairly modern, sophisticated, and expensive. Which meant that if something broke and it was their fault there would be hell to pay.

"Is this where we're supposed to be Simmons?" Lisa asked as they came to a large sliding glass door that had: "Deck 45" written above in a sophisticated cursive font.

"Yeah I think so," Simmons replied walking towards the door with the rest of the group right behind him.

At his approach the door slid open revealing a bustling scene of men women and children all going about their business. But the sudden appearance of the armored and armed Reds seemed to trump whatever matters the people seemed to have been focusing on. All eyes immediately locked onto the four soldiers who froze at being the focus of such attention from over a hundred sets of eyes of all ages. Little gangs of kids ogled at their armor and rifles, adults looked at them suspiciously trying to determine if they were legitimate UNSC or Customs Officials.

"Hey folks, don't mind us, just…doin' our job," Liz said as she and her comrades slowly and awkwardly made their way onto the deck.

The entertainment deck as it was known had movie theaters, operas, arcades, and all manner of little shops, boutiques, and sports bars aimed for older passengers. A tall ceiling glowed with images of a planet viewed from space as they walked into the area. It was paved just like a city street with smooth concrete to simulate the feeling of being in a lively downtown district. Balconies and walkways stretched upwards about fifty feet as people occasionally peaked over too look at them. But slowly the more mature members of the crowd got their fill of looking at the Reds and continued on their way. However the smaller children in the crowd still hadn't seen enough and were pulled along by their parents as the Reds walked along.

"This place is fucking huge! How are we going to search all of this?!" Grif groaned out loud, forgetting that he had his speakers on.

"Um…sir, could you please refrain from such obscene language," a young cruise ship employee asked as she heard Grif groan.

"Oh sorry about that," Lisa responded.

"Also could you please remove your weapons numerous passengers are becoming uncomfortable with…"

"Hell no," Liz snapped back.

"Liz!" Lisa hissed.

"What?! We're soldiers! I'm not letting go of my gun, and I don't have to," Liz stated matter-of-factly.

"As much as I hate to admit it she's right. We can't give you our weapons, nor do we want to," Lisa grumbled.

"Yeah so piss off."

"Liz! For God's sake!"

"Ooh you used a bad word!" a little child of about five accused Lisa, pointing straight at her as he held an ice cream cone in the other hand.

"Hey I can say whatever I want you little…" Lisa retorted.

"Lisa…now's not the time…" Simmons whispered through their private comm.

"What? Oh…" Lisa realized that about twenty children of all ages were surrounding them along with the wary eyes of their parents and other adults.

"We're not giving up our guns, plain and simple, sorry," Simmons said as he turned to continue with his job, still not comfortable with all the attention they had garnered.

"But I'm afraid I must insist…" the woman said defiantly stepping in Simmons's way.

"What're you gonna do about it…bitch," Liz snapped.

"Oh crap," Grif groaned, seeing about half of the kids holding their phones with cameras pointed at the little scrap going on between the young cruise employee the large armored UNSC soldiers.

"Smile for the cameras."

Red Team Two (Sarge, Carmen, Lopez)

Deck 44 Section 09

"This sucks," Carmen growled as the three Reds walked down the wide hall that was lined with the state rooms of the passengers that had chartered the cruise they now found themselves on.

"Hmph, agreed Corporal," Sarge grumbled as he led the way with scanner in hand.

"_Get a room, wait…you already did. So retire and leave me alone_," Lopez sounded off.

"You said it Lopez, we could be doing much better things at this moment, like fighting the Blues, or killing Grif. Or both," Sarge replied.

"_Idiot."_

The three of them were very much bored, all they were doing was scanning for stuff that shouldn't be present on a ship like this. That alone would have been fine _if_ they had found anything! So far the ship was as clean as a whistle. Not a single thing was out of place.

"Could we at least go faster Sarge, I want to at least get a head start on the Blues and the Zealots," Carmen said, snatching the scanner herself.

"Hey!" Sarge responded, reaching for it as Carmen walked off moving far faster than what Sarge had been going.

"Sarge seriously, it's not like we'll…" Carmen was cut off by one of the wooden doors opening a couple feet away and a teenager walking out tucking something white into her jacket pocket looking down the hall suspiciously, as if making sure the coast was clear. But when she looked down and saw the shotgun toting Reds and Battle Rifle armed Lopez she immediately started sprinting away.

"You were saying?!" Sarge yelled as he and Carmen instinctively took off after her with Lopez running behind them.

"Shutup and catch her!" she yelled as the young girl rounded a corner and the Reds followed, hot on her tail.

She moved very quickly, almost too quickly for the Reds to catch her, almost. She sprinted into a hall with several maids pushing one of their carts down the hall and gasped as they saw the young teen being chased by heavily armed and armored soldiers. The girl just shimmied on by, barely even touching the carts of cleaning supplies as she attempted to make her escape. But the Reds had a bit more trouble, Sarge bumped one of the carts and stumbled as Carmen took the lead with Lopez right behind her as Sarge tried to catch up with the rest of them. By the time Sarge got to them they were at a dead end in the hall, with the young teenager standing against the wall with Carmen and Lopez leveling their weapons at her.

"I didn't do anything! Leave me alone," she whined.

"Then why did you run little missy?" Sarge snapped back.

"I wasn't running, I…I…" she hesitated as Carmen strode up to her and spun her against the wall and proceeded to let the scanner work its magic. What it found instantly answered their question.

"Cigarettes. You ran because you had cigarettes in your pocket?" Carmen hissed.

"I…I'm not eighteen, I stole them from my parents' bag."

Carmen groaned and stepped back tossing the pack of cigarettes into the nearest trash can and shook her head, "get outta here before we call security."

At first the girl was dumbfounded and wordless but when Lopez put his hand to his ear and tapped it to symbolize that she get out of dodge the teen awkwardly sidestepped around them and fast walked away as fast as she could. Carmen sighed indignantly, not too happy with their little bout of excitement.

"Wish she would have at least made it more interesting."

"Come on, let's go."

Red Team Three (Kate, Donut, Alaska, Hawaii.)

Deck 44 Section 39

"Dudes! Check it out!" Hawaii exclaimed as they came to window that overlooked the very obvious pool deck right below them.

"What're you looking at Hippy?" Kate grumbled as she joined Hawaii, who was plastered to the window.

"It's a wave machine, the latest kind too dudes the Wave Rider 720!" the excited surfer stammered as he stared at the large machine that was functioning brilliantly creating a constant man made wave that brilliantly simulated any size wave that could be surfed.

"You're not leaving until you ride it are you?" Alaska groaned, almost chuckling at how excited Hawaii was at the opportunity to shred right in front of him.

"Not a chance!" immediately Hawaii ran off, trying to find the nearest elevator to get down to the wave machine and his first real ride in ages.

It didn't take long at all until the large surfer/Freeelancer was all the way to a large glass elevator that he and the other armored soldiers of his little group were crammed into for the ride down to the pool deck where he would be able to show off his surfing skills for the very first time since leaving Earth more than five years before.

"This is gonna be awesome dudes!" Hawaii said peeling off at near full sprint with all his weapons still attached to his back and thighs.

"Hippy stop running, you're gonna…" Kate called just as Hawaii reached a wet spot.

CRASH

"Oooh…" a dozen voices groaned at once.

The large Freelancer immediately lost his footing and slipped, falling forward right into a bar filled with patrons sipping on margaritas, beers, and martinis. Hawaii's armored head slammed clean through the porcelain bar that separated the bar's innards from the feet and legs of the people on the bar stools. Men and women were laying all around, dazed and bruised from the Freelancer's nasty swan dive into them. Some lay on top of Hawaii as he struggled to yank his head free, groaning confused and pained 'what the hell' type statements.

"Hawaii, you okay?" Donut asked as he and Kate ran up to the scene as Alaska helped some of the people get up off of her fiancé.

"Yeah I'm good, sorry about the bar dude," Hawaii said as he looked up at the bar tender looking down at the armored Mk VI helmet poking through the bottom of his bar.

"Um…you're gonna have to pay for that," the man said shakily as Hawaii managed to yank his head free.

"Surf first, pay later!" the man immediately said as he ran off to get to the wave machine leaving Alaska, Kate, and Donut to clean up his mess.

"Just send the bill to the UNSC," Alaska groaned as she followed Hawaii as he finally made it to the wave machine.

"Wassup dudes!" Hawaii called out, grabbing the nearest long board and settled into the familiar atmosphere of surfers chilling out.

"Whoa! A Spartan!" some of the surfers yelped as Hawaii walked towards the line, everyone letting the massive soldier through.

"Dude, let him through, I need to see this!" one of the employees ordered at the head of the line and the rest of the men and women let him walk straight to the front of the line.

"Thanks dudes, ya'll are awesome!" Hawaii replied to their kindness, handing out fist bumps and high fives on his way up.

"Max her out baby!" Hawaii hollered taking his weapons off of his armor and tossed them to Alaska who was at the bottom of the wave machine along with Kate and Donut who were whooping and cheering Hawaii as the water that was coming out of the man-made wave tripled to nearly a million gallons pumped per minute going at fifty miles per hour, easily enough to simulate a never ending breaker.

The machine itself was basically a massive hill thirty yards wide that had the ability to adjust height, slope, and curve and could pump out enough water to lay out a foot thick running plane of water to get someone off to surfing like a pro. Now Hawaii would be putting it through its paces.

"Kowabunga!" he cried as he jumped out, throwing the board underneath his boots and landed solidly on the tough board and immediately started 'shredding' it up. He started out slow, getting the feel for what it was he was doing, and then began to get more comfortable. His armor weighed him down some, but not enough to cramp his style. He spread his legs, bent his knees, and started going to town. The massive armored man astonished the crowd with a few spins on the water, and a couple simple tricks, like floating using all different styles to astonish the growing crowd of onlookers, a few quick moderate tricks as well. He then moved to some aerials, 360 backflips, 180 spins in the air, and finally for his grand finale Hawaii attempted the most dangerous trick for surfers to attempt, at least on a surf machine. He was going to attempt the Double Cork 1080. It was a move pioneered by Shaun White in the early 21st Century, but for snowboarders. No surfer in five hundred years had officially landed it. But he was going to try.

"Let's do this baby!" Hawaii whooped as he came down the slope of the wave and then violently turned and completely lowered himself gaining all the speed he could muster until he was screaming up the ramp and then was airborne. He tucked his body and immediately started twisting himself in to the right and rolling forward gripping the board tight. It happened in a split second, but every turn of the board and both flips felt as I they took an eternity. But the very next thing he knew he was on his board, panting as he watched the crowd going wild and Alaska applauding him loudly a few feet to his left. Hawaii lifted his arms in triumph and let out a few triumphant yells before he decided that he had done what he had wanted to do. He swerved himself over to the right where the water no longer flowed and hopped into the knee deep water and handed off the board to someone else and was bombarded by all sorts of praise, high fives, and whatnot.

_Best day ever!_

Red and Blue Zealots led by Agent Maine

Deck 34 Section 1

Agent Maine however, was not happy. He and the Zealots' first stop on their sweep of the Nebula took him to the only spot he did not want to be. A deck completely purposed to provide entertainment for children. And there were children in abundance here. Perhaps a thousand swarmed all over the network of jungle gyms, slides, trampolines, laser tag arenas, craft centers, pools, water slides, and snack machines. The Zealots didn't seem to mind, what could he say, they were with their own kind.

But what he couldn't stand was the constant crowd of little children that tailed him wherever he went asking if he was a Spartan, if they could see his face, if they could hold his Brute Shot, questions, questions, and more questions! He growled as he saw one of the Red Zealots bouncing on a trampoline with several of his comrades watching and cheering him on and scared them sufficiently to get them back to work. This was perhaps the only deck where the Zealots' armor actually blended in. There were bright colors of every happy shade in the spectrum that actually pulsated, letting no one spot stay one color for very long. Except for the main window which was actually the bow of the ship, giving the kids an outstanding view of the planet the satellite was orbiting along with the ships, shipyards, satellites, and moons of the two gas giants. Tables were set up with coloring supplies for children to play with as they watched the cosmos fly by, but there were more fun things to do for them here. Like annoy the ever living hell out of him!

"Are you a robot?" a little girl asked innocently, getting a firm shake of the head.

"Can you fly?" another little boy asked.

Again, Maine shook his head no.

"What's that?" the same little girl asked pointing away towards something Maine couldn't see.

He ignored it, continuing his sweep of the deck with the very handy scanner his squads had been given. Although he was the only one who seemed to be using his. Maine had noticed that the Zealots had brought their precious flags with them to do the sweep of the ship, but hadn't made that big of a deal out of it. It wasn't like he could have stopped them. But he made sure that they kept a close eye on them, especially here. The two Zealots in charge of the flags were at the main entrance, holding their flags securely last he saw. He checked on them now, scanning over to see the Red and Blue Zealots sill there, although they were watching a cartoon next a group of kids. But what he didn't see instantly made him nervous. Maine had seen what these idiots did when their flags went missing, and that was not an experience he wanted to relive. But when he saw that their flags were gone his very first thought was: _Oh shit!_

His expertly trained eyes scanned all over the massive warehouse sized play room, looking for the red and blue flags his men held so dear. He needed to find them before the Zealots realized they were lost, which was nearly impossible. But when he saw the Red flag hanging from its pole sixty feet up in the depths of a jungle gym of foam and fiber glass tubes and rope ladders and nets he began to calm down. So he started looking for the Blue flag but couldn't find it. Unfortunately he heard the panicked scream of the Zealots before he could find the Blue flag.

"Our flags!"

"They're gone!"

"What do we do?"

"Without the flag who will we follow to the promised land, who will lead us to glorious salvation?! The end is nigh, repent, REPENT!" the Red Zealots' leader began to scream with all his brothers, both Red and Blue gathered sadly around him.

"There it is up there!" one of the Blues pointed.

"Come and get it!" a little boy hollered poking his head out smiling happily.

"CHARGE!"

**BIG Z: Maine just can't get a break can he?**

**Simmons: No kidding, I almost feel bad for him.**

**Grif: Simmons! He tried to kill us!**

**Simmons: What?! I said almost!**

**Next Chapter Preview: Zealots and Maine, the craziest most dangerous enemies in RVB history face off, against a bunch of little kids.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Caboose: Yay! Story time!**

**BIG Z: Yes Caboose story time.**

**Sarge: Will we get to see what sort of trouble the Blues get into?**

**Carmen: Don't forget about the Zealots.**

**BIG Z: Oh I can't wait anymore here's the story! **

**SHOUTOUT: This one is to Bungie and 343, for obvious reasons. If it weren't for you guys we wouldn't have the treasure known as Halo and by extension Red vs Blue. You guys are awesome.**

**Also, I would suggest listening to the song Hamsterdance for the Zealots scene**

Chapter 9

CSV _Nebula_, Deck 43 Section 1

6/9/2570

1200 Hours

Red and Blue Zealots led by Agent Maine

In all the years that Maine had been at Freelancer he'd seen just about everything. Well, everything except for ten Red armored soldiers streaming into a jungle gym meant for little kids. Screams from the kids rose as the Zealots tried squirming their way into the tangle of rope, fiberglass, foam, and rubber. The Blue Zealots simply laughed and rolled over on the ground in absolute joy at seeing their rivals resort to charging into a kid's playground to reclaim their flag. Maine on the other hand wasn't so entertained as much as he was absolutely confused as to what to do next. Normally, if one group stole the other's flag he would just go beat them senseless and take it back. But beating little kids senseless over a flag, while trying to control the Red Zealots at the same time, was another matter entirely. So Maine instantly began looking for a creative solution to this rather creative problem.

But the only way that he could even be in a position to solve this was to charge into that forest of children and toys. He couldn't even move as fast as the Zealots in there, much less kids. So he would have to think of something else. But before he could think of something the Zealots disappeared into the jungle gym, and then worse, the Blues spotted their own flag, on the complete other side of the massive room. The blue flag was on top of a massive water slide in the midst of a large water park with hanging pools, fountains, waterfalls, and slides that were crawling with little kids.

"Hey they have our flag!" one of the Blues yelled out in anger.

"What?! Where?!" the other Blues began babbling.

"There, on top of the mountain of deceit and watery fun!" another pointed.

"Oh I see it, how'd they get it up there?"

"It matters not my brethren let us away to the crusade to reclaim our idol of greatness from the tiny squealing infidels!" their leader called out.

"What?"

"CHARGE!"

All at once Maine heard the Blues charge towards the water park as he searched the jungle gym for the Reds. He whirled around to run after the Blues but as he was about to break into full sprint a single dodgeball slammed right into his visor. Loud giggles emanated from his right and he saw a group of little kids holding red dodgeballs in their small hands looking at him. Ignoring them Maine just turned and continued after the Blues.

"Fire!" a squeaky little voice yelled as he turned his back. Instantly several balls smashed into his back and head and made him stumble in place, and instantly pissed him off, he started walking towards the fearless little group that was in some kind of inflated castle.

_These devious little…_

BANG!

He was all of a sudden hit by a swinging pendulum made of heavy foam that was enough to knock him off balance. He saw that he was right over a deep ball pit five feet beneath him that served as a moat for the ones that were throwing the dodgeballs at him. Unfortunately there were several kids standing directly in front of him as he waved his arms frantically trying to not fall into the rainbow colored pit. But as little kids always do, they did nothing to help and just playfully shoved him. Maine fell the few feet into the four foot deep pit and the 'ooh's' of all the kids was audible and the splash of all those balls going sky high must have been high because the kids on top ducked back.

_THAT'S IT!_

Maine rose like a monster from the pit and started to awkwardly walk out of the pit to show these kids who the real terror of this ship was.

But the Zealots were faring little better, especially the Reds. They were stuck trying to navigate their way through the tiny tunnels and staircases and ladders that seemed to be swarming with children that incessantly ran around them with little swords and clubs made of rubber and foam and would pelt them with dodgeballs. It was annoying and very distracting. Especially when one of the kids would get a bulls-eye and pelt one of them right in the face.

"Where's the flag?" the leader, Red One, asked as the Zealots came into a large flat arena looking area that was big enough for them all to stand fully upright in.

"I don't fucking know, these newbs hid it!" Red Two responded.

"Uh guys," Red Five piped up, looking straight up.

"What?!"

"Look."

All around them were kids, holding dodgeballs, foam swords, and rubber clubs. They were all smiling from ear to ear in absolute joy at how much fun they were having making the Zealots' lives a living hell. Then the torrents of kid safe projectiles came flying at the Reds. The Reds ducked down, covering their heads to avoid being hit and violently tossed the dodgeballs back, as if they too were little kids.

"Ha, take that little squeakers!"

"Ow not the face! You'll dicks are gonna pay for that!"

The little kids seemed to be thinning out as the Zealots finally seemed to get the upper hand and then saw the flapping of their treasured flag above them.

"Look there it is!"

"Go, go, go!"

"We must reclaim our flag!"

The Reds split up trying any path they could to find out where to go to catch the little girl carrying their flag. Some went up a rope ladder as they were slapped with foam swords and tried grabbing back but about fell in the process. Others went through tiny tunnels and got stuck in the small crevices and others went up ramps that they were fighting through a hail of dodgeballs to get up to the top. But when four of the Reds finally made it to where the little girl holding flag was they realized she was about to go down a slide.

"She's going down a slide hurry! Get to the bottom."

"Okay, hurry up and catch her, we must retrieve the flag!"

"See ya!" the girl yelled as she slid down the fact tube slide with the Zealots right behind her.

"Come back here! Give us our flag!"

The slide twisted and turned, making the Zealots tumble as they tried to force themselves down the slide faster than they should have. But the girl still outran them and they ended up falling behind as the little girl giggled all the way down and they screamed right behind her. The slide ended in a pit of foam cubes that the girl just fell on top of but they fell through. So as the little girl tried getting out all four of the Red Zealots rose up all around her, fully surrounding her.

"Surrender tiny she devil, you have been defeated by our divine might! Give us our flag now!"

"Okay."

Just like that and without any struggle the little girl returned the Reds' flag and ran off to go have some more fun wherever she could find something to do. But the other Reds didn't know that they had regained possession of their flag and continued to basically battle against over a hundred little kids to get out of the jungle gym. Their angered yelling was still audible as some still received pelting from kids that were having a lot of fun at their expense.

"Hey! No throwing at the face!" Red One yelled at a group of kids that were throwing foam balls at him.

"Make me!" a young boy yelled back from safety up high on the platform that he and his budies took cover on top of.

"Get 'em!" the two Reds charged at the kids in a fury and began to climb up the steep ramp as balls and foam cubes began pelting them.

"Ow! You jerks…uh-oh…" Red Three groaned as he saw a solid wall of kids start charging at them with their little foam and rubber play weapons.

"RETREAT!"

All the Reds began running as fast as they could as they were pounded with the not so soft weapons the kids used on them. All the Zealots ran at top speed towards the nearest slides or poles that would take them to the bottom where they could run away from these little devils. Red Seven slid down a thin slide with Reds Five and Six right behind him and landed at the padded floor of the main room but was flattened by his comrades landing on him.

"You assholes wait up!" Red Seven yelled as Six and Five ran off towards the four other Zealots who had reclaimed their flag. But before he could get up a group of kids landed on his back and clung there as he writhed around and tried getting them off, "Help get 'em off, get 'em off!"

But then the kids and him fell into the foam pit that the flag holders were trying to get out of at the same time. Reds Five and Six tried to help their comrades out of the pit as the kids seemed to close in like a pack of tiny evil wolves and attack them playfully. Reds One, Two, and Three finally emerged from a pole that they came down and landed in the pit with their comrades and began to try and fight to survive among the swarms of screaming laughing children. Their Red armor stood out among the green and blue foam cubes as the kids just attacked them as the Reds rallied around their flag. If someone took a picture it would have looked like a bunch of Spartans were defending their flag gallantly, fighting to the death…against little children.

The Blues however were in a completely different situation. They had foolishly charged headlong into the biggest water themed amusement park they had ever seen. There were dozens of rollercoaster water slides, huge fountains, several large pools suspended above the main pool many feet below. A couple hundred meters of catwalks, stairs and ladders crisscrossed the large setup with kids running about every which way. Large buckets of water repeatedly filled and dumped out on some of these spots making some of the kids get flushed down into a small bowl of water like a friendly booby trap. There were a great many nets to prevent any fall from being fatal that dripped from all the water being thrown about. But the Zealots weren't here to play, their flag was at the very top of this nightmare of water and they wanted it back. Kids with water guns, water soaked balls, and noodles persistently shot and hit them as they tied navigating their way up the slippery stairs and crowded catwalks. Their Blue armor made them stand out in the red, purples, and oranges of the slides but they blended in with some other parts that were colored more blue and green. They squeezed or pushed their way up through the lines of kids holding inner tubes and tried hard to not slip and fall in the slick flat parts of water jungle gyms.

"Where are we?!" Blue Two finally asked, annoyed that they seemed to be going around in circles.

"Oh look a map!" Blue Five declared as he ran over, but as soon as he hit a slick spot his feet flew out from under him and he landed on his back and slid to the large holographic representation.

"Ha, that's what you get, fucking newb."

"Hey, at least I was helping."

"Shut it," Blue One growled, "We're here, we need to go there, that's where the flag is."

He pointed at the tip top of the map and the Blues all nodded in agreement. As he was about to continue speaking however, a practical tidal wave fell right on top every one of the Blues, soaking their armor, and angering their already simmering tempers. Giggles from above the Blues drew their attention upwards and they saw a group of little kids sticking their tongues at them and waving taunting them happily.

"Get those little twerps!" Blue One growled and instantly three Blues charged at the ramp that led the way upwards.

"We got 'em now!" Blue Five yelled as he got to the top.

But then another surge of water slew down at them and they were washed down the ramp like rag dolls and to the place they had started. Kids all around them laughed loudly as they saw the armored idiots get up with water dripping from their armor. The other blues however were not so entertained as they ran back up the ramp to get even.

But the three that were washed away then saw a glimpse of the flag at the top and instantly ran towards the place they wanted to go. Water and little foam balls pelted them as they tried to navigate their way around and the kids ran away screaming in fright as the Blues ran up in the midst of their rampage. An adult lifeguard tried blocking their way near his station but when the Blues saw him they just shoved him as an afterthought and made the lifeguard fall down a slide. Now the lifeguards too were trying to get the Zealots to stop and a steady stream of them began following the rampaging Blues.

"Sirs, this is not the place for this type of behavior!" one yelled as the Zealots charged up the ramp towards the very top.

"Out of our way naysayer, no one shall stand in the way of our divine might!"

Just like that the zealots made it to the top, and there before them was a boy waving their flag wildly, not caring that it was getting soaked. But when the Zealots appeared he smiled and yelled out to them.

"Catch me I you can!"

Just like that the boy dove down a massive slide that went nearly straight down for sixty feet and leveled off at the very bottom of the pool where a lifeguard helped any riders off. But this didn't stop the Zealots from flying straight into the tube they had seen their quarry and their flag disappear into.

"No! You guys can't all go at once!" the female lifeguard yelled as they charged into the pipe.

But when the three Blues emerged to see exactly what they were in for their intense anger turned to fear, the Zealots were afraid of heights! Their frightened screams carried over the entire room as all three clung to each other as they flew down the slide at fifty miles per hour. Water splashed all those nearby including their comrades who had seen the flag go down the slide and went to get a closer look only to see their comrades o careening down that same death defying slide. But as quickly as it began the Zealots began leveling out and skimming over the water towards the end of the little pool that was where people slowed down and stopped on. Water went flying outwards, soaking some employees that were walking around.

"The flag!" one of the three Zealots yelled reaching out and snatching it from the boy who was staring at them in awe at what he was staring up at.

"We have reclaimed our flag! Let all tremble at our might!"

But the Zealots' glory was interrupted as they saw their comrades come running down towards them with about thirty life guards and crew running to catch them.

"RUN!"

Blue Team One(Church and Tex)

Deck 23 Section 8

Church and Tex were on the Nebula's observation deck, walking around at a relaxed easy rate so they could get their job done at a decent rate but also not open themselves up to new jobs in case they went too fast. But Tex seemed rather glum, and bitchy.

"Tex, what's bothering you? You haven't even said anything since we got this job," Church asked as she walked ahead of him, weapons on her back and scanner in hand.

"Nothing Church, seriously what's your deal I'm fine!"

"No you're not," Church snapped back.

"Okay Church, what do you think is bothering me?!" she responded, turning around and putting her hands on her hips.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? I'm not a god damned mind reader."

"Then how do you know something's bothering me?"

"So something is bothering you!" Church piped up.

Tex rolled her eyes and continued walking with Church right behind her.

"Fine, I'm a god damned Freelancer Church, I'm trained to go and kick ass in dangerous situations for the good of Humanity! Not…this," she said throwing the scanner to the ground angrily.

The metal scanner bounced and skidded away to the wall a few feet away as Church sort of stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say.

"Well…we did get to go get to go on a mission to arrest the Director. That was dangerous and we did do some good stuff, like taking a planet away from the Insurrectionists, or arresting the Director."

"That was a month ago! I want something that gets the blood pumping, something dangerous where you don't know if you're going to live or die."

"Why the Hell would you want that? If we do that we, I don't know, might die!"

"Because that's what being a soldier means!"

"What about us Tex?" Church responded.

"What about us?"

"What would I do if you died?" Tex glared at him as if saying…'really?', "Okay that's a bad example. But you get my point."

Tex snorted, amused by Church's attempts to convey concern.

"I get it, come on, let's just finish up."

Blue Team Two(Sergey, Sister, Caboose, and Rachel)

Deck 24 Section 5

It hadn't been a few minutes of scanning the ship before Sister had disappeared into some bar on a strand of restaurants. So Sergey along with Rachel and Caboose had gone in to find her and drag her out, kicking and screaming if need be.

"Sister! Where the fuck are you girl?" Sergey hissed into his comm to her.

"Uh…Sergey," Caboose said tentatively, tapping his shoulder.

"What…oh no."

Sergey completely deflated to see Sister on top of a table helmet off and holding an empty bottle of scotch dancing like a stripper. Rachel obviously tried to hold in a few smirks as Caboose stared at what was going on without a clue as to what was going on. A great many intoxicated customers were whistling and cheering the drunk Sister on as she walked from table to table. Sergey ran through the crowd to try and get her down without her making a fool of herself.

"Sister! Get down!" he hissed.

"What's the matter soldier boy, your women don't get a chance to cut loose on duty?" the bartender taunted him as he chased her around.

But Sergey quickly had to get her down before she did anything else to make a fool out of both herself and the military as a whole! But her constant walking around and the crowds in the bar didn't make that any easier. Her blonde hair was waving about freely as she was moving around and dancing sexually on top of tables and the bar.

"Get down!" he finally yelled as he grabbed her arm and yanked her forcefully off of the bar, knocking a few glass cups to the ground making them shatter on the wood floor.

"Aww…" she drunkenly groaned as Sergey shoved her helmet on her head and proceeded to drag her out with Caboose and Rachel right behind them.

Applause echoed as Sister waved good bye to her new fans as Sergey yanked her into the hall.

"Sister, what the Hell?! What were thinking?" Sergey snapped as soon as he got them to secluded hallway.

"That I was thirsty," she babbled.

"I'm thirsty too! But do I have to do that…" Caboose piped up.

"Caboose…please don't," Sergey snapped, but gained control again.

Rachel grabbed Caboose by the arm and pulled him out into the main corridor so Sergey could have his talk with Sister, nodding to Sergey as she left.

"Sister, you can't just do that. You're a soldier, even if you're…well…you. Please Sister, don't do that again."

"I…promise," Sister responded, falling forward into his arms and leaned her head against his chest.

"Okay, just remember that promise when you're sober."

Blue Team Three(Washington, Jenny, Tucker, and Lea)

Deck 34 Section 1 

Agent Washington hadn't been all that interested in what he was assigned to do but he didn't complain. He understood the concept of being given orders and then following them. At least he was with some people he could at least trust. After all, it wasn't every day you could listen to some dirt about your girlfriend on duty.

"…And then there was the time Jenny tried to steal Monty, the Reds' tank, and he shut himself down with her stuck inside!" Lea laughed as Jenny angrily glared at her.

"That wasn't my fault!" Jenny responded.

"You broke the keys! Then you tried to hotwire him but you failed!"

"How was I supposed to know the Reds would think Monty was mad at them and giving them the silent treatment?!"

"The tank got mad at the Reds?" Tucker asked, instantly curious.

"Oh yeah, all the time!" Jenny responded.

"Why would he do something like that?" Wash sarcastically asked.

"Carmen once tried to modify him to fly and shoved him off the cliff. Kate painted him pink before that, and Liz and Lisa, hmm… what did they do to him?" Jenny asked Lea.

"They flipped him upside down going over the bridge."

"Oh how did I forget that? That's when Ridgeline flooded!"

"Your base flooded?!" Wash asked, stunned at the exploits of these Simulation Troopers.

"For a week. Hawaii finally went and pulled Monty of there and then we went to see that Monty and Hawaii had basically banished the Reds from their base for not telling him where Monty was. Monty, Hawaii, and Sergey were good friends, being the only guys in miles."

"Seriously Lea, you girls really went to that extent to keep the guys from hitting on you?" Tucker asked as they continued to roam around.

"Hold on, do you hear that?" Wash piped up, silencing the Blues. They all listened intently to hear the sound of screaming, laughing, and yelling coming from their left.

"Oh no, kids."

"The Zealots and Maine are supposed to be scanning that deck. Come on, let's see how they're doing," Wash ordered, wanting to make sure that Maine was indeed keeping his word.

The Blues walked around the corner to see the entrance to the kids' deck and peaked in to see general chaos. Most of the chaos concentrated around a pair of flags and a giant in white armor. Wash's jaw dropped to the bottom of his helmet as he saw the Red Zealots basically battling with perhaps hundreds of little kids that were pounding them with dodgeballs, foam cubes, and rubber weapons. They were torso deep in blue and green foam fighting back by throwing the same projectiles coming at them and by grabbing kids and throwing them off to the sides.

The Blue Zealots were in a knot on the ground actually trading punches with the ship's crew in the middle of a pool as water went flying everywhere in the midst of the battle. Kids were cheering incessantly and throwing water logged foam balls and squirting streams of water at the raging Blues as they fought for no discernible reason against the three to one odds they now faced. Thankfully none had drawn their weapons, as their lethal rifles and pistols were under lock and key in the office at the entrance.

But the most amusing of all was what Maine was doing. In his hands were large neon colored foam noodles and he was dueling in the middle of a group of actually brave children who slapped at him with identical weapons as they bounced on the trampoline around him. He was on a firm spot that was normally reserved for an employee to watch the kids but he now used the spot to keep a firm footing and fight off the constant bombardment of attacks he seemed ill trained to handle.

Agent Washington ran straight towards Maine and yelled at the top of his lungs on his voice amplifier.

"Maine what the Hell are you doing?!" Wash yelled, gaining Maine's attention.

The kids seemed to stop their attacks on him as Maine growled and pointed a finger at the gaggle of children around him. His answer was like that of a child.

Wash fumed, "I don't care who started it I'll finish it!"

**BIG Z: Oh this was so much fun to write.**

**Sarge: Oh we're in trouble next chapter aren't we?**

**Washington: Well no shit.**

**Next Chapter Preview: How to make an officer mad and how **_**not**_** to try and deal with it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**BIG Z: I'm sorry for taking as long as I have everyone, I've had some problems of a technical sort. My laptop decided to be insubordinate and I've been limited to my iPhone. I just got it back from the Geek Squad. But something else has happened that trumps what happened with me. Which is why I will not really be having a cameo this time.**

**SHOUTOUT: This one is to the City of Boston, a great tragedy has occurred and the nation is reeling. Yesterday, two bombs were detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 3 people, and wounding 144. I call on you the readers to keep the victims and the victims' families in your prayers. **

Chapter 10

CSV Nebula, Bridge

6/9/2570

1400 Hours

Lieutenant June Athens

"Excuse me Lieutenant?" the old captain of the Nebula politely spoke up as June waited on Vivian to finish up her scan of the ship's log, manifest, and crew/passenger lists.

"Huh? Oh captain, what is it?" June replied absentmindedly.

"Oh how do I say this? Umm…your troops are kinda…misbehaving," he said, trying to lessen the blow.

A part of June shouldn't have been surprised, but still, she instantly became worried. So she asked further, "Misbehaving how?"

"Well, one group got into an argument with one of my stewards for refusing to give up their weapons, they called her a bitch in front of dozens of onlookers who recorded it and posted it to Youtube. Another group had one man put a hole in a bar on the pool deck then, and actually we enjoyed this, he went surfing on our surf machine. Another group chased and held a teen at gunpoint because she ended up running from them as soon as she saw them. A group had to pull one of their own from a bar drunk off her rocker, who was…entertaining some of the passengers."

"What?!"

"I'm afraid that's not the worst of it. Your largest squad on the Kids Deck, went nuts, no children were hurt, their leader had the prudence to lock their weapons in the nearby security post. But as children sometimes do, they messed with them. For some reason they carried flags with them. I guess their unit guide-on? But anyway, the kids stole the flags, and the Red ones chased and fought these kids through our jungle gym for ten minutes before fighting again in the foam pit. Then there were the Blues. They chased some kids to the water park on that deck. Our lifeguards attempted to get them to stop but they ended up getting into quite a scrap. I have seven crew members in the infirmary nursing broken noses, bruises, cuts, and quite a few hurt feelings. Their leader on the other hand was basically attacked by some of the more, rambunctious, of the children. He ended up chasing them through our inflatables, and trampoline courses. So…yeah, this inspection hasn't gone according to plan."

June could only stand there completely speechless, even Vivian was silent, _thank God_. Vivian was busy trying to gather the security footage and pirate the videos off of Youtube to compile and show to June. She would need to see this herself.

"Captain…you can prepare to cast off again. I'll get my troops off your ship and let you on through. This has been a day of firsts for me and them and it's clear I need to have a long serious talk with 'em."

"Lieutenant, it's fine. I served my time in the Navy during the war. I know the way soldiers act, they work hard, and they play hard…"

"Too bad these fools don't seem to do very much work of any kind," Vivian mocked in June's ear.

June bit her tongue as she yanked out the A.I. chip embedded in the ship's systems and replaced it in her wrist computer. She turned to the cruise ship captain, nodded politely and turned to leave. As she turned the main door guarded by a security man with a Taser on his belt attempted to look as attentive as possible for the UNSC officer.

"Vivian, get everyone off the ship and into the briefing room…now!" she hissed, finally allowing her anger to boil over.

"Okay, message has been sent out and all troops should be on their way out of the vessel and into the satellite. Lieutenant Athens, what, exactly, do you plan to do with them?" Vivian delicately asked.

"Discipline them."

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful

Doc & Doctor Courtney Anderson

The only two people on the entire station with any knowledge of medical matters were actually quite busy, and were in no way qualified to help with the sweep of the cruise liner. So June had ordered them to get all the medical gear separated from the rest of the equipment, weapons, fuel, and ammunition to have it ship shape by the time they had finished their assignment of scanning the large cruise liner. It turned out they had quite a bit of medical equipment now assigned to them, it had taken the medic and surgeon nearly half an hour just to get the crates and boxes separated out to be placed in a nearby warehouse. Over thirty crates of first aid kits, morphine, blood plasma, blood canisters of all blood types, needles, scanners, surgeon's tools, bandages, anesthetic, splints, stretchers, and all manner of other things had to be catalogued, organized and carefully moved to a refrigerated section of the large room if needed, and stacked up using a small crane on the ceiling.

"Man, why would those UNSC people think we needed this much stuff?" Courtney groaned as she sat down on top of a small box she had just set down next to the door, "It doesn't make sense to me."

"For someone who has taken orders from Command for several years let me tell you this, making sense is a convenience to be used in rare circumstances," Doc grumble as he walked the crane forward and brought it down to place another large crate filled with some type of bandage, "but hey, look on the bright side. At least all this exercise is good stress relief."

"Boy have I needed that," Courtney replied, grinning weakly, "what with Carmen being pregnant, a new commander, and those religious nut jobs running around along with a former super soldier turned megalomaniac, I've needed an avenue to channel a little energy."

"That's the spirit," Doc said happily, "and…done! See? That was easy, and we managed some great stress relief at the same time, good team work," Doc smiled widely as he held up his hand for a high five that Courtney just grinned and returned the high five half-heartedly.

As the two of them started walking out of the small warehouse a shadow off to the left of them caught Courtney's attention. It was there for a moment before it disappeared again. But Courtney was a pretty suspicious person, and if she had a question she was going to have it answered one way or another.

"Did you see that?" she asked as she stopped in the hallway and stared down the well-lit corridor.

"See what?" Doc asked, stopping in his tracks to see that Courtney was looking straight down the hall intently.

"I saw a…thing…I'm not exactly sure what it was."

"You two!" came a very angry and very irritated voice belonging to Lieutenant Athens.

Both medics jumped in fright and saw the green armor of their commander stomping right towards them. Her Battle Rifle was slung over shoulder and her hands were balled into fists and every movement was stiff. Her visor was cleared and her angry eyes were very much bloodshot with rage.

"Umm…Lieutenant, are you okay?" Doc asked, being very careful in his speech towards the short fused officer.

"Am I okay? Am I OKAY?!" she yelled, tearing off her helmet allowing her platinum blonde hair to fall out, "In the day I have been assigned here I have been assigned to a floating farm and a group of imbeciles, tied up and gagged, had one of my soldiers get kidnapped by idiots who can't die, been humiliated by all of them, and have become the laughing stock of the UNSC! So NO!"

June stormed off into their living quarters and her voice faded away as the metal dulled out the sounds of her enraged ranting as she finally stomped around in her room and locked the door behind her.

"Oh no…" Doc whined, slumping his shoulders.

"Either she has just had a major melt down or the Reds and Blues have really fucked up."

"Or worse, both."

"Then we're…"

"Grif! What the hell were you thinking?!" the angered voice of Sarge yelled as soon as the Reds were visible streaming out of the docking port.

"Me?! What the Hell did I do?" Grif snapped back.

"You made an idiot out of yourself on Youtube!" Sarge replied.

"And Liz, Lisa, I am ready to kick your dumb asses! I could expect this stupidity from Liz, that's a given, but Lisa? How could you be that stupid?" Carmen yelled at her team.

"They started it by trying to take our weapons!"

"And come on, she was a bitch," Liz grumbled nonchalantly.

"And Hippy what the Hell were you doing?!" Carmen yelled again.

"Just cutting loose babe," Hawaii grinned.

"Which was awesome," Donut spoke up.

"It was wasn't it?" Kate responded.

"So cool."

"You did a flip!" Kate yelled out excitedly.

"Really? In all that armor?" Simmons asked, now curious.

"Shutup!" Carmen growled, "We got pulled out, we fucked up! Again!"

"Why am I not surprised?" a familiar voice called out arrogantly from behind the Reds as Blue Team now made their way into the satellite.

"Well what were you guys doing the entire time?" Liz snapped.

"Not becoming an instant hit on Youtube," Jenny responded smugly.

"See I told you!" Lisa snapped at Liz.

"Well actually, Sister sort of became a hit herself," Simmons replied.

"What?" Grif growled.

"Just look up 'drunk Spartan pole dancing' on Google," Simmons responded.

"Really, I'm famous?" Sister slurred out, wobbling with Sergey supporting her.

"You little slut! What is wrong with you?!" Grif yelled.

"Hey, she's my girlfriend," Sergey snapped back.

"Well she's my sister!"

"Hey easy dudes, too many negative waves floating around," Hawaii coolly tried soothing the angered Reds and Blues.

"ENOUGH!" Washington finally bellowed as loud as he could, using his voice amplifier. Everyone near him cringed as they recoiled from the sudden angered outburst.

"Hey easy on the voice amplifier Wash," Lea growled loudly, barely able to hear herself over the high pitched ringing in her ears.

"What?!" Caboose yelled, unable to discern anything anyone was saying.

"Stop yelling retard," Tucker said.

"Caboose you're hearing is gone," Church groaned.

"I don't wear earrings!"

"Calm down moron," Lea groaned.

"I am putting my palm down, wait, which palm, my right or my left?"

"Let's move on," Tex spoke up, "Okay, the fact of the matter is this: We screwed up and made that new officer look like a complete joke in front of hundreds of people."

"Actually the number is approaching eight million, ah the beauty of the internet," Lisa smiled smugly.

"Well yours has already gotten to eight digits," Lea replied indignantly.

"Really that fast?" Jenny asked, quite curious.

"Shut up," Tex snapped threateningly.

"Lisa, promise to shoot me if I get asked to go on TV," Liz grumbled.

"Save us the trouble and shoot her now," Carmen piped up.

"And Grif too," Sarge added on.

"Is that an order?"

"No save your time for something that matters," Carmen grumbled.

"Back on subject please."

"Guys, I know that fucking things up is normally our whole point in life but right now we've got to try and be half-way competent," Church stated firmly, receiving nods from everyone.

"Well, I guess we'd better go and say something. It's only fair to her," Carmen grumbled to herself.

"Fuck that, I didn't do anything," Tucker snapped.

"Tucker!" Tex growled, threateningly, moving her right hand to rest on her pistol.

"Alright, fine," Tucker consented, seeing what might have been in store for him had he not capitulated.

The Reds and Blues heard the soft thuds of many pairs of boots approaching form behind them and saw the dripping wet, paint stained Zealots, led by Maine. All of them were extremely depressed and just barely able to hold their heads high enough to keep from tripping over one another. Maine just growled something that Wash nodded at and turned to face the others as the Zealots walked off in opposite directions and Maine stood in between and walked towards the others.

"What happened to them?" Lisa asked curiously.

"He said don't ask."

"If it has those guys depressed and the Lieutenant having a bitch fit then I don't wanna know," Jenny huffed.

"Agreed," most of the assembled group said instantly.

"Well, someone ought to go and talk to her," Sergey said uncomfortably.

"Are you volunteering?" Church asked.

"No, I have to get Sister back to base," Sergey desperately responded.

"Don't look at me!" Tucker held up his hands.

"Count me out," Lea added.

"Well it has to be someone who she at least knows she can trust, someone stupid enough to go and risk getting chewed out by her," Tex responded.

"And we have to send someone from both teams, seeing how we both messed up," Lisa thought out loud.

"Although you Reds messed up worse than we did," Lea grumbled.

"Don't start that again Lea," Alaska replied.

"So we need someone from both teams, who can both try and put her in a better mood."

"Yet be kinda dumb…" Grif trailed off, looking over at Donut and Caboose.

"Hey, everyone's looking at me. I love attention, hi!" Caboose piped up.

"What do you mean I'm kinda dumb?" Donut ranted, putting his hands on his hips.

"Donut, you believed us when we said that dirt tasted like chocolate."

"Oh yeah, not my best moment."

"But we do need someone to go along, someone with at least some common sense," Liz said, rubbing her chin, "One two three not it!"

"NOT IT!" everyone immediately yelled. That left one person who didn't or couldn't, say it, Rachel.

"Sorry Rachel," Jenny grinned, as she immediately and angrily started flashing sign language at them.

"What's she saying?" Grif asked as the furious girl huffed and slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Trust me you don't wanna know Red. This is how we decided how who did things no one else wanted to do back in the day. The only way she was able to keep from being it was if we needed to rescue her from the Reds, or pull the Warthog off of her because she forgot to put the jack in the right spot, or when she got stuck in a tree after chasing a squirrel that took her bag of peanuts," Lea sounded off, counting each of the different scenarios on a finger.

Immediately, Rachel shook her head and pointed at Sergey and Jenny.

"I did not bump the jack when the Warthog fell on you!" Jenny yelled.

"And I didn't ask you to try and steal the flag when the Reds' base locked down and you were trapped inside!" Sergey replied as well.

"Yeah you did," Lea responded.

"Did not," Sergey testily responded.

"Sergey, remember what we did to you when you tried to argue last time?" Lea responded menacingly.

Sergey winced, _yeah, being tied upside down over the cliff is not fun_.

"Now it's decided, Rachel, Caboose, Donut, and Kate will go talk to her," Washington spoke up, pretty much ending the debate.

"Get a move on you lot," Carmen said, turning and heading towards the Warthogs as the other Reds went the same direction.

"We'll send Monty to pick you up when you're finished," Lisa called over her shoulder.

"Come on, let's go," Kate grumbled and headed towards the door into the living quarters where they knew the medics, the pilots, and now their angry CO were living in.

"You first," Donut said, quite afraid of what awaited them.

The four of them walked up the stairs and onto the raised platform as the door hissed open and allowed them inside. Rachel was the first to brave walking into the metaphorical jaws of death but as soon as she walked inside she and everyone with her jumped in fright when Four-Seven came around the corner and yelled out to them.

"Hey guys."

"AHH!" Kate and Donut squealed, jumping into one another's arms.

"Sheesh, what's got your panties in a wad?" Four-Seven snorted.

"We got told to talk to Lieutenant Athens…" Donut began.

"Oh she took a walk into the garden dudes," Vic was heard yelling from around the corner.

"Okay, which way did she go?"

Red Team

Red Base

The column of Warthogs pulled up and parked lazily by the wall into the base and every Red present dismounted. Every one of them was simply depressed at what they'd done, and were in no mood for arguing with one another. With two of their number still at the hanger area they had hope that things may get smoothed over some before they would need to face Lieutenant Athens again. In the meantime however, they had something else to worry about.

"Hey Sarge," Simmons called as he heard a loud beeping noise coming from a side room that hadn't been opened yet.

"What is it Simmons?"

"Do you hear that?" he responded, making the other Reds listen in as well.

"Hear what? That beeping?" Grif asked too.

"No the other mysterious beeping noise coming from that room over there. Of course that beeping noise!" Lisa snapped.

"Well stop arguing about the stupid thing and do something about it!" Carmen yelled as she opened the glass door to the cafeteria, "God dammit, why did we send Kate?! She and Donut are the only ones who know how to cook!"

"Oh no she isn't Carpy, allow me to show you dudes a real taste of Hawaiian barbecue."

Hawaii cracked his knuckles and went to the kitchen with a great big smile on his face. But Simmons and Lisa, being annoyed by the incessant beeping from behind the sealed door pressed the button that opened it and were pleased to see the door hiss open quickly, showing them a large computer console. A pair of rolling chairs was against the desk that a pair of keyboards was sitting on, glowing blue and ready to be used. Several monitors were displaying information and video of what some security cameras were looking at.

"Hey, look at that," Lisa said walking in first, "A security feed."

"Really? That's badass."

"It shows everything, the gardens, the halls, warehouses, and the hanger," Lisa sounded off, sliding down into the padded chair and placed her helmet on the table.

"Hold on, that isn't the hanger," Simmons pointed at the screen of a large, and empty, hanger bay with its doors closed but a few red lights rotating in their housings.

"It must be another hanger, this is a big satellite after all," Lisa shrugged.

"Sarge! Check this out!" Simmons called over his shoulder.

"What in Sam hill? What did you two nerds find?" Sarge asked as he was startled to see the now very active pair of Reds playing with the computer.

"Sir, I'm a science officer," Simmons groaned.

"Yeah right, that would have to mean you're an officer," Liz chuckled.

"Shut it ya dumb bitch," Carmen growled as she walked in.

"Thank you ma'am," Lisa responded.

"Kiss ass."

"Simmons, what have ya got?" Sarge finally asked, trying to find out why he was looking at a hanger he had not seen before.

"It's another hanger sir," Lisa responded, tapping a few commands into the keyboard.

Immediately a large map lit up on the screen in front of Lisa and a red blinking box immediately caught everyone's attention.

"It looks like this hanger is on the opposite side as ours is," Simmons observed.

"So why's it blinking red? Is it broken?" Liz responded.

"I don't think so, hold on, let me try something," Lisa tapped in another series of commands and immediately the screen flipped to a grid of different camera angles, most were in the main corridors and the garden itself, but some were showing staring out into space, "There!"

She pointed at a single box showing a gray boxlike object of sorts as its primary focus point.

"What is it?" Sarge asked, leaning forward to get a better look.

Simmons tapped the screen with his finger and the box blew up to encompass the entire screen. With this additional resolution they were able to see that they were staring at a ship of some kind. It was no warship, as there was not a single weapon on its smooth outer hull. A few markings were present including a few letters and numbers designating it as some kind of cargo vessel. A single group of small windows at the rear section of the ship was clearly the bridge but the windows were tinted to prevent them from looking in and seeing who or what was piloting the vessel. The ship then seemed to slow down as its bow left the screen and then they felt a slight shudder as the vessel docked, and then a single blinking symbol went off at the top of the Reds' computer screen.

UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED.

"Uh oh."

"This isn't good," Lisa gulped as she turned the screen back to the hanger where she saw the doors open and then everyone gasped as they saw dozens of armed soldiers stream into their satellite. They all had on red, brown, and orange camouflage patterned armor that resembled what the UNSC's troops wore. Most were armed with Assault Rifles, but a few held heavier weapons, like Sniper Rifles, Rocket Launchers, SAW's, and Shotguns. They moved rather sloppily by military standards, but it was definitely proficient.

INTRUDER ALERT

"Oh shit," Carmen whispered as vehicles now flooded out into the corridor, at least a dozen Warthogs mounting machine guns sped into the hanger and then fanned out, securing their perimeter.

"We're in deep shit now."

"We need to alert the others," Sarge responded, placing his hand to his ear.

"Hey Reds! We're being invaded! So get the fuck off your asses!" all their radios immediately screamed into their ears.

"Yes we noticed Church, now stop screaming, my ears are still ringing from when Washington yelled at us last time."

"We've already told Meta, he's got the Zealots on their way now, but we can't find Lieutenant Athens, Caboose, Rachel, Donut, and Kate," Washington reported.

"They'll just have to fend for themselves for now, we have to do something quick to slow them down," Carmen rattled off.

"Shut the doors," Alaska quietly and calmly said from behind the Reds, startling them, "funnel them into a place we can concentrate ourselves."

"I think we can do that from here," Simmons responded, and immediately started tapping in commands and several yellow lines flashed up where the enormous bulkheads began shutting themselves tightly and magnetically sealed themselves.

"Okay, we're safe from being attack from behind, but they still have access to the main chamber. I have no control over the entrances to those," Lisa sounded off.

Then the Reds heard Tex come on the radio.

"Okay, Reds, mount up, time to kick ass."

**BIG Z: Thank you for reading folks, and please, please keep the victims of the Marathon Bombing in your hearts.**

**Next Chapter Preview: You've been waiting for a fight and a plot, so here it is.**


	11. Chapter 11

**BIG Z: Next chapter! I've been working hard on this one gang, hope you enjoy it.**

**Church: I swear to you, if I die, I'm going to be pissed.**

**Tex: What're you going to do, yell a lot? **

**Church I'm going to possess someone and then kick their ass.**

**BIG Z: Shutup Church before I do decide to kill you.**

Chapter 11

Agriculture Satellite_Plentiful_in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

1500 Hours

Lieutenant June Athens

The domed garden did a lot to calm the mind and relax the body, June noticed as she continued walking slowly through the large structure filled with all the necessities that would be needed to support the platoon she was, unfortunately, in charge of. It was just what she needed to be honest, she was hardly able to contain her fury when she had realized that her "troops" had completely fucked up a simple assignment like inspecting a cruise ship for contraband.

The sun was shining down brilliantly through the glass which had pigmented itself to a natural light blue to give the plants the closest conditions that it could provide to nature. A light breeze flowed from the natural process of convection in the massive domed garden. The young Lieutenant had rid herself of her armor and now only had on a set of clean BDU's and a holster to hold onto her Magnum which was her most prized possession besides a picture of her family she still hadn't set up on her desk. The leaves the walnut trees she walked under rustled gently as she felt the coolness of the fresh air on her skin. The dirt path she was walking on was smooth and level with small lights on the borders separating the ST. Augustine grass that grew beneath the thick canopy. She had seen a few squirrels and chipmunks scurrying around on a few branches and on the ground, chattering away. Birds also zoomed by occasionally, chirping away at one another. The area was surprisingly well maintained considering who the current residents were at the moment. Not a branch or dead tree trunk was on the ground, and very few dead leaves littered the orchard grounds.

_It is quite a nice place_, she thought to herself, desperate to try and calm the still simmering rage she felt inside as she came to a fork in the path. One path branched off further into the orchards while the other would take her across a stream that flowed peacefully through the dome. June decided to just take the path to the left, and walked carefully across the steel bridge that spanned the ten yard wide stream. She stopped halfway when she heard a splash in the stream. Curiosity made her turn to see what it was and she was shocked by what she saw, a shimmering school of minnows swam in the clear waters, with several larger darker colored fish chasing after them. A self-sustaining environment, June observed idly, allowing her mind to wander. She just unconsciously decided to stay there and watch the dance of the fish beneath her as she leaned against the railing with her elbows on the rails and clasped her hands together. She'd rolled up her sleeves when she had taken her armored plates off just for the sake of it being too hot to have them rolled down. She saw the reflection of herself in the water among other things like the trees overhead, a low dropoff that held vines and grasses in the edges with a series of low bushes on it. Her platinum blonde hair stood out in the shimmering mirror that the blue water provided as June just sat there in thought. Her mind was relatively at peace, thanks in part to the lack of a radio in her ear.

But when the sound of a Warthog's engine became audible she groaned in frustration. She looked up to see the unmistakable shape of the all-terrain vehicle on the path headed her way. Probably the Reds coming to apologize, she surmised when she caught a glimpse of red in the back of the Warthog. But then she saw the gun was pointed right at her, and that they hadn't called out. Then the vehicle pulled off to the side, and several men in patterned red, orange, and brown camouflage jumped out shouldering Assault Rifles. June was forced to action when the first gunshot rang out and the ricochet barely missed her feet.

"It's a federal! Take her out!" one of them ordered as they all opened fire.

Bullets whipped and cracked past her as she turned and sprinted the opposite direction. She pulled out her Magnum and pulled the charging handle back and clicked off the safety. More bullets flew by, kicking up dirt as she slid in behind a tree on the left side of the road that was easily wide enough to offer her protection from the hail of 7.62 millimeter rounds. She heard the rounds stop as she guessed they were reloading and went on the attack. June grasped her pistol in both hands and aimed it right across the bridge and started firing. The heavy slugs impacted the Warthog as the men ducked down to avoid being hit. She stopped firing a moment to duck down to try and lure one into showing himself and providing a good target.

"Get on the fifty, keep her head down."

June made out the order and peaked back around to see that one was clambering into the trunk to fire off the Warthog's primary weapon, the triple barreled fifty. She aimed down the scoped sights that she pulled up and fired when she saw the man expose his full body to her. A plume of dust and red mist jetted out from the man's side when she pulled the trigger.

"Gotcha," she grinned when he collapsed from the back of the Warthog, and his buddies dragged him screaming behind the Warthog. But her small victory was short lived, as she saw another pair of Warthogs fly over the bridge towards her, cannons blazing hot lead.

So June did the only thing she thought she could, she turned and ran into the forest to avoid the dangerous vehicles. Leaves and shattered tree bark flew up in front of her when the heavy machine guns pulverized her only route of escape. She ducked down and turned to blindly fire back at her attackers when and got a look at least a half dozen men on foot coming after her.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she yelled as she turned and continued running.

She desperately fired her pistol back at her pursuers who were now firing at her furiously. It didn't seem to make a difference at all as they continued to close in, firing at her close enough for her to duck behind a tree of bush to keep from being hit. As they advanced and got closer their fire became more accurate, and she paid for that. A single bullet struck her right calf, passing all the way through the flesh but didn't even touch the bone. To say it hurt was an understatement, it was Hell on Earth for her leg and she screamed when she tried to run again. Her knee buckled on reflex as she tried pulling herself up using a low branch on a tree she fell against. She could feel her right boot filling with blood and the wet sensation of her pants soaking with the red liquid. Sensing their prey's weakness the hostile soldiers closed in, weapons aimed, ready to fire the kill shot if necessary.

"Hands up federal!" one of them shouted aggressively, pointing his rifle at her from a few yards away. June heard the word 'federal' and immediately pieced together who these guys were: Insurrectionists.

"Fuck off Innie!" she hissed, holding her pistol up, switching between targets rapidly as she saw them close in, she had heard the rumors of what the Insurrectionists did to any prisoners they took, the pictures of what became of the crew of UNSC Frigate that was captured she'd been shown at the Academy had haunted her for several weeks after they were shown.

But when she was about to pull the trigger a loud series of gunshots emanated from her left. A pair of the enemy troops were hit in side and were lifted off their feet effortlessly and sprayed blood and gore across their fellows. The other enemy soldiers were stunned and were still easy targets as another consecutive pair of gun shots rang out and another Insurrectionist was killed while another had his leg ripped off. The last two, being helpless to fight back against the pair of snipers June now knew were out there, they started to flee. But a single blast of a shotgun rang out and killed one of them and then a burst of Assault Rifle fire downed the second one.

"Whoohoo we got 'em good!" a happy voice cried out from the side where the sniper shots had come from.

From the forest emerged Kate and Donut reloading their Sniper Rifles.

"Yeah, get pwned!" Donut called out.

The sounds of footsteps running towards her made June whirl her head around to see the dark blue armor of Rachel and further off, the Blue armor of Caboose.

"Did we win?" Caboose asked as Rachel slid next to the wounded Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, you okay?" Kate asked as she and Donut walked up to her.

"I've been better, I took one on the leg," June growled as Rachel took out a strip of gauze from her chest plate storage compartment and started wrapping it around her injured leg.

"Oh I hate it when I get shot," Caboose said casually, "It hurts."

"Well it can't be as bad as a grenade to the head," Donut replied.

"Or being run over by a Warthog," Kate chirped. Rachel nodded, smiling behind her visor, she remembered that, she was the one driving, "And I'm still pissed off about that Rachel."

"Cut it out, we need…we need to get back to the others. There may be more where they came from," June said, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Oh yeah, come on, we know the way."

Blue Team

Outside Blue Base

The sounds of gunfire had heightened the alert level of the group of Blue soldiers as they prepared for battle once again. It had been rather easy to open up a large hatch that allowed the Blues to mass their three vehicles, a Scorpion(Sheila who was itching to fight), a regular default Warthog with its primary HMG still mounted, and a custom built rocket armed Warthog built by Rachel. They had contacted the Red who were already on their way towards the set rendezvous point.

"Church! It's Caboose!" all their radios screeched at once.

"God dammit Caboose keep your voice down, we hear you just fine," Church growled back.

"We have found the Lieutenant lady, Rachel is taking us to Doc to have him help her."

"What? Why? Hold on…Caboose you didn't kill her did you? Because I don't think she can just come back," Tucker replied.

"She was shot by these guys we're fighting against," Kate snapped.

"Yeah that could also mean Caboose Red," Lea groaned.

"The guys who just boarded us from behind and attacked our rear!" Donut answered.

"I think I see why you guys thought he was gay," Jenny observed.

"You just figured that out?" Sergey replied.

"Yeah I did," Jenny said defensively.

"You're not very observant are you?" Church asked.

"Yeah, it gets kinda embarrassing sometimes."

"You don't say."

"Caboose, how close are you guys to the med station?" Tex demanded.

"Not very far, we'll be there in a few minutes," Kate answered for him.

"Very well," Tex responded, turning to the rest of the Blues, pulling out a holo-projector on her wrist, "Okay, we've got about a hundred enemy troops inside the station right now, they've got a dozen Warthogs, and at least three Scorpion Tanks…"

"Oh goody," Shelia said happily.

"We are here," Tex said, pointing at a grouping of green dots on her projection, "The Zealots and Maine are forming a line here in the middle while the Reds are rushing to link up with them here," she pointed at a grouping of a green dots moving towards a line of yet more green dots, "Now the enemy is still consolidating their position, and haven't really advanced very far from their ship."

Tex pointed at the ship which was basically a big red rectangle on the screen. A large semi-circle was gradually spreading out with a few isolated pockets farther from the main group showing that they were scouting parties. But a small little grouping of green dots was between them and the mass of red hostiles. That was Donut, Kate, Rachel, and Caboose helping their injured Lieutenant.

"What about Vic and Four-Seven? Can't they arm the dropships and blow up that ship?" Lea asked.

"They could, but destroying the freighter would jeopardize the integrity of the satellite and possibly put us into a decaying orbit, we'd need to do it with all the hatches connected to the hanger shut," Washington replied.

"And the only one connected that's open is here," Tucker pointed.

"And we don't have control of that one."

"Fuck me," Sergey groaned.

"Already have," Sister replied happily, and as clueless as ever.

"What?!" the infuriated voice of Grif bellowed on the comm.

"Shut up and drive Grif, you can worry about how your sister is a slut later," Sarge replied.

"Up yours Sarge," Grif replied.

"Reds, are you in place?" Tex put her hand to her comm.

"Yeah, we're almost there," Carmen said back.

"Carmen, what are you doing out there, you're pregnant!" another voice called out.

"Trust me Doc, we know, before she left she grabbed an entire bag of potato chips and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to keep her from coming with us," Liz responded.

"Okay, Reds, we're on our way to link up with Maine and form a battle line just get set up, I don't know how much longer the enemy will wait until they advance," Washington said.

"Then hurry up!"

The Blues all mounted up into their vehicles and drove off at the fastest speed they could. But as they were about to start ascending a large hill all Hell broke loose. A loud whistle and then a loud bang breached the quiet and sent dirt and bits of plants and produce all over them. Soon several more explosions rocked the hillside as the Blues wildly drove their fastest to get out of the line of fire.

"Fuck this!" Tucker yelled, steering the Warthog erratically, barely staying on the road.

"Tucker, look out!" Lea screeched as another tank shell hit the ground right under their right front wheel, sending the entire Warthog's front end up into the air, but missing part of its front end. Washington was thrown from the turret to the ground and Tucker and Lea were rattled inside the Warthog as it flipped onto its left side. Lea fell to the ground, writhing in pain as she grabbed at her right arm which was glistening with a stream of blood flowing from a bad tear in the armor's black under suit. Tucker was pinned beneath the Warthog, trying extremely hard to pull himself free.

"Of all the places for you to crash Tucker!" Church yelled as he jumped out of the passenger seat of the next Warthog and ducked down behind the front end of the wrecked vehicle and started to try and free Tucker.

"Not my fault, it was a fucking tank! Huh, never really thought of what it feels like to be on the receiving end."

"What are you talking about?!" Church said, ducking down as another shell pummeled the area the Blues were now trying to fight from.

"The Reds, we always blew the shit out of their stuff, and now our first Warthog just got fucked up. This sucks, can't we just get another tank?" Tucker replied, finally managing to free himself.

"Are you finished talking about shit that doesn't matter or are you going to keep me from bleeding to death?!" Lea screamed, her voice betraying how much pain she was really in.

Tucker and Church crawled over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders and started pulling her behind the Warthog and safety as the other Blues began firing away. Sergey was on the turret, firing down the hill at a line of urban camouflaged soldiers that were advancing up the hill towards them. Sister, Jenny, and Washington were on the ground, staying behind the cover of the incline and a few trees while they fired away. But Tex however was nowhere to be seen. Heavy concussions blasted forth from Sheila's main cannon as her targeting systems pin pointed the range and elevation that the incoming tank rounds were coming from and immediately set about to destroying them. A single fire ball blasted into the sky as they all saw a single SABOT round strike an enemy tank off in the distance and promptly the tank fire stopped as the other enemy tanks scrambled to get out of the line of fire.

"Where's Tex?" Church yelled as they continued fighting the oncoming swarm of enemy troops.

"What makes you think I know?" Washington responded as he threw a grenade down the hill into a group of troops that were setting up a machine gun.

In that moment another batch of gunfire rose from their right along with whooping and cheering. The Zealots had just engaged the enemy. The unmistakable sounds of Maine's primary weapon echoed loudly as he led the charge somewhere in the lowlands of the garden. Tracers were visible crisscrossing the opposite side of the dome as the Reds in their vehicles began their own attack instead of waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Then an additional bout of gunfire and terrified screaming from behind the group of soldiers attacking the Blues informed them of where Tex was located.

"Oh my God this doesn't seem physically possible!" came one terrified cry in particular.

Wash and Church looked at each other, "There's Tex."

Tex had swung around the side using her cloaking device to mask her rapid movements and then easily climbed up into the thick canopy of trees that barely hung above the heads of a second wave of enemy troops. She was holding onto her BR which was on her back and held a pair of grenades in hand. She hopped from tree to tree with expert balance and landed over the lead elements of the enemy troops.

"Buenos dias cockbites, welcome to Hell," she grinned sadistically as she tapped the arming switch on the grenade and dropped it right down into their midst.

Before it went off she was gone, dropping the next one into another group. The screams they made succeeded in panicking the others as she dropped down to the grass and went to work, with her bare hands she started with fast quick punches, killing them with the sheer brunt force of the armored fists. To most of them it looked like their buddies were being slaughtered by a ghost and they all began firing wildly, half the time into one another, accounting for most of the kills she rapidly began to accumulate. But soon she was located and targeted. Rapid rifle fire began to pierce the air as another wave began to run up to help their helpless comrades. Several Warthogs began to fire away, ripping up the once tranquil gardens of orchards and vineyards.

"Well hello there," Tex grinned again as a tank rolled to a stop in front of her and fired up at the Blues, "don't mind if I do."

Tex leapt from her cover with machine guns blazing right at her. But this time she fought back. She drew her BR, holding it in one hand as she ducked and weaved firing with pinpoint precision that only she was truly capable of. A Warthog following her blasted from the shrubs as it attempted to ram her but didn't see its own tank swinging its main gun around to aim at Tex. Tex stood right in front of the tank and goaded the Warthog's driver into charging at her, unaware that a tank was getting ready to fire just beyond the hedge. With a thunderous report the tank fired as Tex dove to the side, rolling back to her feet. The shell struck the Warthog head on, catapulting it into the air and made it land right on top of the tank's turret. But then another shell blasted the Warthog's wreckage clear and launched the twisted hunk of metal and fire into a tree that pinned Tex behind it.

"Well fuck!" she groaned as the remaining twenty or so enemy soldiers began to surround her.

The tank aimed straight at her and leveled its gun as the soldiers began to close in on her. But then the tearing sound of a dozen rifles and machine guns ripped through the air from behind her. Just about all the enemy soldiers hit the ground dead and the enemy tank began to back up with the other remaining troops began to run for their lives. A single tank round struck it right on one of the treads, effectively disabling the whole vehicle, prompting the driver to run for the hills. But a single sniper round struck him as he was about to jump off the tank.

"Yes! I got him, did you see that what a shot! I am a God with this thing!" Church yelled triumphantly.

"Dude that was your first kill," Jenny groaned as the Blues ran up to where Tex was still pinned.

"Oh bullshit! I got at least five or six!"

"Shutup and secure the area," came the cold hard voice of Washington.

Sergey drove up with Sister and Jenny in the front while he rotated the turret, scanning for targets. Sheila rolled up behind them, firing another long range shot at the now retreating force of enemy troops. Gunfire still rang out occasionally on the other side where they could hear the Zealots cheering like they usually did in battle and the unmistakable sound of Tejano music blared in the far reaches of the area as the Reds were still heavily engaged with the enemy.

"Well, that was easy."

Red Team

"This is not easy!" Liz screamed as she barely managed to keep her Warthog from being rammed by another enemy Warthog in the middle of the largest section of the garden, the wheat fields. They were currently in a rather dangerous ballet with a half dozen Warthogs firing their machine guns at them from practically point blank range.

"Shutup and drive!" Carmen ordered from the passenger seat as she tried to fire a round from her Shotgun at the Warthog, but only managed to pound its smoking hood.

"Simmons on the right!" Sarge called out, pointing out at a tank that was withdrawing from the battle after being damaged earlier.

"On it sir!" Simmons replied as the warthog pulled to a halt and allowed Simmons a god shot.

With the pull of a trigger a baseball sized dart of tungsten went streaking at the tank, where it penetrated with a shower of sparks that cut clean through the entire vehicle, spitting out the projectile after it had tumbled through the body of the Scorpion, rendering it helpless and powerless.

"Good shot mate!" Monty said as he rolled forward aiming his cannon at a pair of Warthogs that had seen him and were now turning and running. He fired a single round hat hit the ground next to the lead Warthog, making it and its crew tumble down into a creek.

"Nice dude, my turn," Hawaii grinned, patting the tank as he took his Spartan Laser and charged it until the solid red beam struck out and sliced through the second Warthog's rear section, igniting the fuel mounted in spare cans on the bumper. Launching the Warthog into a flip end over end and landed with a fiery crash into the rather dry wheat fields, igniting them as well.

"Oh hippy have we ever told you how much we love you?" Lisa said as she watched the enemy Warthog explode.

"You could stand to say it more often, but hey, remember I'm engaged," Hawaii said as he continued his relaxed posture on top of Monty.

"Speaking of marriage where is Alaska?" Grif asked as he stopped next to the other Red Warthog.

"I don't know, haven't seen her since the fighting started," Simmons replied as he began to search the perimeter for Alaska's white and gray armor.

"Uh guys, we have our own problem," Lisa spouted as she looked around.

"What?!" Carmen growled.

"Fire."

All the Reds looked to see that they were surrounded by a wall of flames that had extended from where the Warthog that Hawaii had destroyed had crashed.

"Hippy if we get out of this I'm going to kill you," Liz yelled.

In that moment however the sky seemed to fill with dozens of silver flying machines spraying white streams of fire suppressant in a desperate attempt to save their crops. The Reds watched them all silently as the walls of flame were smothered by the walls of chemicals and steam began to rise from the extinguished flames as the robots now began chirping angrily at the Reds, claws clicking and spinning as they hovered around them.

"Yeah mates, they're pretty mad at us for sort of destroying the whole field, we might want to head out before they slash our tires, or poison our food," Monty said, "Oi that wasn't my fault you little pipsqueaks!" he yelled as one chirped directly at him.

"Let's move out Red Team, on to further victory!"

The Warthogs and Monty rolled out, following a path that was used by their enemy to get to the recent battleground they had just gotten through. Several Warthogs were overturned, bodies were spread out along the path, including one pinned to a tree by long serrated blades. And at the end of all the carnage was Alaska, standing on top of an intact Scorpion with at least a two dozen enemy soldiers with their hands on their heads as they trembled before her.

"What took ya?" she smirked as she twirled one of her knives over her fingers, feeling very pleased with herself.

"We've been looking everywhere for you baby, you okay?" Hawaii said, jumping down off of Monty and ran to his beloved and bear hugged her out of sheer joy.

"We were looking for her?" Grif asked, "I thought we were trying to get away from those robots before they poisoned us."

"Can it meat sack."

"Oh…good to see you too babe," Alaska grinned, as Hawaii put her down.

"Hey Reds! We beat the shit out of these guys you suck!" a voice out in the distance was heard.

"You didn't capture anything, we captured their ship!" another voice called out.

"Yeah but we didn't have Maine helping us, and we still kicked us, which means you suck!"

"No you suck!"

"You suck!"

"You suck!"

"No you!"

"All of you suck!" Church yelled over the comms.

"Jesus Christ Church!" Carmen yelled shaking the ringing from her ears, "you think you can say that a little louder, I don't think the people on the planet heard you."

"Uh guys, you might want to get over here, the Lieutenant is wounded and wants to see you," Doc called over the radio.

"Oh fuck I forgot," Liz groaned, putting her head on the wheel.

"Uh tell her we can't really come to see her right now, we uh…have prisoners we need to torture…I mean interrogate!" Carmen tried to stutter.

"Wait, did you say she's wounded?" Simmons asked.

"Yes I'm wounded, now stop sucking up and get over here."

Rebels

"Run!"

"Oh crap what is it?" another of their number yelled out desperately as the remaining three Rebel soldiers continued to flee in panic from something that had been picking them off one by one since they'd arrived in the Plentiful on a supposedly easy smash and grab.

"There it is!" one of their number screamed before he was yanked into the trees like a rag doll, screaming the whole way up until his cries stopped with a sickening crunch.

"Keep running."

"No!" the man in the back screamed as he fell to the ground and was yanked back under the bushes.

"Oh fuck!" his buddy yelled as he dove trying to grab for his hand but missed, seeing his pal get dragged out of sight as his screams ceased.

"Oh God…oh God…" he trembled as he spun around, pistol aimed and ready.

But when he felt a dark presence behind him he gulped down his fear when he heard a single noise.

"Blarg."

**Church: Dude, that last part was fucked up.**

**BIG Z: I liked this chapter. Although there's something missing.**

**Tex: Like why a bunch of dudes just showed up out of the blue and attacked us? Don't get me wrong, I had a lot fun, just…why?**

**Church: Well him telling us is going to ruin the whole point of the next chapter.**

**BIG Z: And I reached my self-imposed word CAP for this chapter.**

**Next Chapter Preview: Time to torture…I mean interrogate the prisoners, and reap the spoils of war.**


	12. Chapter 12

**BIG Z: Now this is going to be a good plot driving chapter that'll set the stage for the big plot of this story. With a little surprise thrown in.**

**Grif: Well it's about time, you haven't really given us reason to even hope for a plot.**

**Liz: Seriously, what's the deal with that?**

**BIG Z: Well the problem has been that I've really been debating on what the plot will be. I actually hadn't planned a long plot at the start of the story. It was only in Chapter 10 that I decided on my plot, and this chapter should give you a good idea of what it will be. Also, please review and tell me what you think.**

Chapter 12

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

1530 Hours

Lieutenant June Athens 

The sound of engines pulling up outside the door caught Lieutenant June Athens's attention immediately. But when she sat up her leg flared up in pain like it did the last time she sat up when Tucker and hobbled in helping Lea who had been hit by shrapnel in the battle. Courtney had tasked Doc to take care of the two of them as she continued working on June's leg with a methodical professionalism. She'd shot her full of morphine to get rid of the pain, then cleaned the wound after injecting some bio-foam to stop the bleeding and encourage the blood to clot then she had put on a fresh bandage and then helped Doc with Lea's arm while Tucker tried to keep Caboose from helping him with his broken ankle.

"Hey Sarge," Donut greeted him, petting Shotgun as the large dog walked beside the two Reds.

"Donut, where've you been?" Sarge hollered, "We could have used your help."

"Aww…see they did miss us," Kate grinned to Donut.

"We missed your rifles, you not so much," Carmen replied.

"So…uh where's…ya know," Sarge whispered.

"Oh she's in the infirmary. She got shot in the leg, but Courtney and Doc say she's going to be just fine," Donut said, pointing the way into the infirmary.

"You idiots wait here, I'll…" Sarge trailed off seeing June hobble out of the door with a crutch to keep the weight off of her leg.

"Well, what happened?" she asked groggily, the morphine still keeping a tight hold of her mind.

"We kicked ass, that's what happened," another voice said.

Church and Tex walked into the room right behind Sarge and Donut. Both of them were covered in dirt and dust, and had a few nicks and scrapes on their armor plates. But they seemed to be alright.

"The enemy were Insurrectionists, not very well trained or very brave ones either. As soon as we started advancing they cut and ran, abandoning a lot of their equipment. But we managed to capture those who weren't killed. Something to the way of forty prisoners in all. We also captured eight jeeps and three tanks. But the biggest prize was their ship," Tex stated evenly.

"You captured their ship?!" June replied, startled and amazed at the revelation.

"It's no warship, just a bulk cargo ship. It has an FTL, a few crates of supplies and equipment, and a couple spare vehicles, but that's about it."

"Still, that's an enemy ship!" June said as she noticed that most of the Reds and Blues weren't present, "How many did we lose?"

"Just Lea and Tucker being wounded, for the Blues anyway."

"Red Team didn't lose a single one of our soldiers!" Sarge bellowed proudly.

"And the Zealots? Wait…never mind."

"Good…very good," June said, finally allowing herself to collapse on a couch and breathe a sigh of relief, "One of you got on the horn to the nearest UNSC ship, tell them what happened and ask for assistance. The rest of you lock up the prisoners and sweep the entire satellite. I don't want any stragglers to get away."

"But if they do, good ole Shotgun will give 'em what for, hehe," Sarge chuckled.

"I'll take care of the call to Command, where's a communications station?" Tex offered, still in the zone from the recent combat.

"It's right over…yeah I have no idea," Doc said.

"Great…" Tex groaned as she walked towards the door to the hanger where a Pelican would have to serve as their means of communication.

"I can help with that," a familiar voice called out over the speakers above their heads.

"Vivian," June perked up, "Can we alert Command from in here?"

"Already done, the destroyer UNSC _Ranger_ is on route with a company of Marines on board with several Pelicans coming up from the surface with Ordinance Disposal Teams for a complete sweep."

June sighed another breath of fresh relief at that, at least some things were working around here, "Thank you Vivian, the rest of you…" June looked out at the motely group before her. From the annoying Blues, to the incompetent Reds, to the deadly Freelancers, and to the mysterious Zealots, she had finally gained some measure of respect for this rather unorthodox unit, "Thank you, you all really surprised me with what you've done today. For that, you have my respect."

The Reds all stood taller with pride as the Blues just acknowledged her statement to them with a few nods that she returned kindly. It had been nearly too much stupidity in one unit a few hours ago but now it was a whole different animal, she now saw the unit that had ventured into an Insurrectionist held planet and had gotten their mission done without a second guess. Even with the odds stacked against them they did it. Just like they'd done here.

"Okay, I think that's enough socializing Lieutenant," Courtney piped up, "Come on, I still need to keep an eye on your leg. The rest of you, unless you're hurt or injured, scram."

The two Reds proudly saluted June who returned it and left. The two Blues on the other hand didn't, Tex just nodded, which was about all the acknowledgement she gave anyone, while Church just flashed a quick two finger salute as he left.

Maine and the Zealots

Holding Area

In an empty store room the forty prisoners were being watched over by Agent Maine and the twenty Zealots who just stood up on raised platforms that crisscrossed the storeroom and allowed them to be completely impervious to any attacks from the deflated and depressed bunch of prisoners they had just taken. But Maine, being Maine, didn't settle for that. He had been standing at the door to the storeroom, arms crossed over his chest, scanning the room for any officers of leaders among the crowd that sat waiting for a UNSC ship to come and take them away.

Soon, he found one, his collar had a single silver bar that must have meant he was a Lieutenant. Not the highest ranking officer he'd found, but he was, unlike the other officers that Maine and the Zealots had found aboard their ship, alive. Maine had a pair of Reds standing next to him, Battle Rifles held over their chests, awaiting orders. Maine tapped them slightly and growled as he pointed at the rebel officer.

"Yes sir," the Reds chirped as they walked into the mass of sitting Insurrectionists and yanked the officer up by his armpits and started dragging him towards Maine who was already walking out towards a room that he had picked out for an interrogation room. Maine waited outside the room, unseen by the young man until he was thrown onto the chair inside. There was only a table and two chairs on opposite sides of the table and a single light that had been pointed down at the table to give the room a classic, interrogation feel.

"Hey, what are you…" the man yelled as he was shoved down forcefully into the chair. But the Zealots didn't answer.

In that moment, the door opened carefully, and quietly, revealing the menacing silhouette of Agent Maine. The titan of a man stepped forward, every step of his boots rang out off of the tile. The man sat there, watching him. His hands started to shake, but he tried to stay even and unyielding. But he jumped in surprise when a single bloody knife was stabbed into the table right in front of him. Maine saw the reaction this had and sat down carefully, hearing the steel chair creak audibly.

"I won't tell you anything," the man said. But Maine slowly took out his Brute shot and set it gently on the table, and took out a large stone, and with steady smooth strokes he began to run it along the blade. He stared at the man through his gold visor and just kept up his smooth rhythm.

"Listen I don't know what you're thinking but I don't know anything."

But it seemed as if Maine just ignored him. The rock continued to run along the large sharp blade. The golden visor reflected the man's reflection, and he started to fiddle with his hands as his eyes watched the rock glide along the smooth blade effortlessly.

"Okay, it was supposed to be a smash and grab, an easy one to take some equipment from a small unit. That's what our contact said."

The rock continued its unending movement as Maine leaned forward slightly, but kept staring at him. The man stared at the Zealots behind Maine as they stared back at him, with equally unyielding faces of gold.

"What do you want from me?!"

With that outburst Maine gently set the rock down, and stood up, weapon in hand and started to walk towards him dragging the blade along the surface of the table. The low scratching noise pierced the air as it left the table and then fell on top of the man's leg as Maine started to circle him. When he was directly behind him he took the blade and ran it along the back of his neck. The man shivered in fear from the ominous contact of the cold steel. The man looked at the bloody knife still embedded in the steel table and began shaking, the fear emanating in his voice.

"Okay, I'll tell you what I know, but you have to promise me protection."

Maine took the blade off of his neck and then nodded to the man to continue.

"All I know is that he's a businessman on Pluvia Silva, he's been providing us with info on shipments of military gear which he buys from us after we steal it. I don't know his name, the Captain knew but you sort of cut him in half. That's all I know, I swear," the man said when he hesitated after speaking the sensitive information.

Maine listened to this, and without saying a word nodded to the Zealots, which was their signal to take the guy back to where the other prisoners were stowed away. With that very enlightening, but disappointing, interrogation Maine now had some information. Information he knew would come in handy in tracking down who had set them up for an attack.

So he got on the radio, and called Agent Washington, who was actually aboard the Insurrectionist ship, scanning its data banks for anything useful.

"What is it Maine?" Washington grumbled into the radio, Maine responded with a low series of grunts and growls that immediately caught Wash's attention, "Really? And he just told you that without torture?" Maine replied curtly with that, "Yes I know you can be very persuasive sometimes but it's very likely he lied to you to avoid pain and mutilation."

"What's going on?" the voice of Jenny came over the channel.

"Maine said he got some interesting information out of one of the enemy soldiers."

"He did huh?" another voice called out, this time it was the Lieutenant.

"Yeah, he said that these guys were set up to do this by someone on the surface of the planet, a businessman he said," Washington definitively replied, "This looks like something we need to investigate."

"Well it'll have to wait, we're going to have to repair what was done to the station first."

Blue Team

Bridge of Cargo Ship _Manifest_

"Hey Wash," Jenny asked as they scanned the ship for any additional life signs.

"Got anything?" Washington looked over.

"No I've got a question, how much is this ship worth you think?" she asked looking around the the inside of the vessel.

"Oh I'd say about two or three billion dollars, give or take. Why?"

"Really?" she cooed excitedly.

"What are you getting at?" Washington finally asked.

"I was reading in our rules and I came across something very intriguing about a certain regulation dealing with the spoils of war. It turns out whenever a ship Is captured we get a cut supplemented to our pay."

"Really?!" Washington asked, very surprised.

"Yep, turns out that we as PFC's and NCO's get our share of an eighth of the vessel's value. And I just did the math, seeing as we are the NCO's and PFC's, and if the ship is worth two point five billion dollars our shares come out at roughly…" she trailed off, wanting to build the suspense on Washington.

"Well?" Wash said impatiently, wanting to know exactly what the value was supposed to be.

"It's called suspense Wash," she teased, getting a neutral annoyed expression instead of the angered one she was wanting to exploit, "Fine, poor sport. The value would be something in the range of six million nine hundred forty four thousand five hundred dollars."

"Seriously?! That's a Hell of a lot of money!" Wash cried.

"And that's not even counting the officer's share. Which seeing as we only have one officer, she gets all three hundred twelve millions of it," Jenny said.

Washington's jaw practically dropped to the floor, "Are you kidding me?!"

"Not at all," she said, "But with that amount of money she'd be a fool to stay here and risk her neck anymore. She could retire and along with any kids she had."

"Yeah…" Washington replied, trailing off.

"Something wrong?" Jenny asked, looking at him with concerned eyes.

"What if she does retire? What…what about the others? I was really starting to like it here. I know it might sound absurd but I actually don't want this to end."

"Yeah, that's right, you and I both know that there are many among us would take this opportunity to bolt and live a life of luxury," Jenny said, worry etching her face, "So what do we do?"

"Do? We can't do anything Jenny; that is money they are all legally entitled to by the Universal Code of Military Justice. We have no way to block them from it, we have no way to make sure it doesn't get to them."

"Unless we destroy the ship."

"No…no way. This ship has the intelligence that points the way to whoever wanted us dead for our equipment, and I will not give that up, also six million dollars is something I really want in my bank account."

"Yeah, but working overtime must have gotten you some serious money anyway," Jenny said nonchalantly.

"Actually Freelancers don't get overtime pay."

"Really?"

"Yeah…wait…did you get overtime?" Washington asked, not believing what he was hearing.

"Oh Hell yeah, we even got maternity leave with pay."

"How do you know that?" Washington asked.

"Because I tricked Command into thinking I got pregnant by photo shopping a picture of a pregnancy test, I got four months of leave until Sergey blackmailed me into coming clean," Jenny said.

"Why'd he do that?" Washington wondered.

"I told Command he was the father."

"So…did you and him…ever…"

"What?! Hell no! He was more frightened of his own team than he was of Hawaii and Monty," Jenny laughed.

"The whole castration threat coupled with killing the last guy who hit on you girls?"

"Yep."

"Okay, looks clear," Washington said, chuckling at the thought of Sergey, once a hard charging Marine, cowering in fear from the threat of getting his manhood cut off by temperamental ladies who were also pathetic soldiers, and one of which was his own girlfriend.

Main Hanger

The UNSC _Ranger _docked quickly and securely to the station with most of the Reds, Blues, and Freelancers waiting for them. The Red Zealots had made certain that the prisoners were ready to be offloaded, and were guarding them in the back of the hanger, weapons ready to fire in the event of any trouble.

The massive airlock slid open, and in rushed about fifty UNSC Marines. They all fanned out, but soon relaxed as they saw that the situation was fairly well in hand. Behind them came another man with his hands clasped behind his back and head held high. He walked up to Lieutenant Athens, who was leaning on a pair of crutches due to her wound, and saluted.

"Permission to come aboard Lieutenant," the old man asked, a grin on his face.

"Permission granted sir," she replied, saluting the man back.

"Commander Caldwell, skipper of the Ranger, I must say you did a fine job Lieutenant Athens."

"Thank you sir," she grinned, shaking his offered hand as more Marines flooded into the satellite.

"I'm also pleased to say that you and your unit are relieved. My Marines will have your farm nice and secure within an hour, and OD teams will have swept it within two. I guess congratulations are in order, normally Innies never allow themselves to be captured alive, but you've done and taken forty of them, and seized not only…" he looked at a tablet with a detailed report on it, "a dozen vehicles, several hundred weapons, but you also took their ship!"

"Commander sir, how did you know that?" June asked.

"You're A.I. Vivian, gave me a fairly well documented report in your stead due to your wounds, oh by the way, I was in the officer's club aboard the local command satellite, word is you're in line for a promotion because of this little action, but you didn't hear that from me," the older man whispered.

"Re…really? A promotion?" June stammered.

"That's what I heard Admiral Swan say herself. She's head of all UNSC forces in the area. Still there's a lot that needs to be done, ONI wants to debrief you and your troops when the area is deemed secure," the man said.

"Commander sir," a Marine officer walked up saluting Commander Caldwell, "All units report no enemy presence left on the station. And OD teams have given us the all clear, just waiting to transfer these prisoners to the Ranger and we'll be out of these Spartans' hair."

"Oh these guys are no Spartans," June said, looking back at her unit.

"Very well, Lieutenant, it seems I'll be out your hair slightly early. I'm told that the damage was light and should be repaired by the satellite's caretaker robots…oh that was also on the report from you're A.I."

"Thank you sir, thanks for stopping by," June said saluting the officer as he watched the row of prisoners be sent under guard to the Ranger along with a few platforms carrying white body bags holding the Innies who had been killed in the battle.

"By the way Lieutenant, are you familiar with the regulations regarding spoils of war?" June shook her head, "Well, it seems that according to the rules you and your troops will be getting a cut of the profit of selling off that ship you captured."

"A cut sir?"

"It's an old rule, more for show than actual application, it stipulates that regulars get their share of an eighth of any profit generated from the sale of a captured vessel, and officers get their share of an eighth of the profit. So you should be seeing a check on your doorstep pretty soon," he said, walking away.

"That's a lot of money," June breathed.

The door hissed shut behind the man as the Ranger left, and the Reds and Blues all began buzzing behind her. She hobbled on her crutches to face them, only to discover that they were already in front of her. They all had their helmets off, with great big grins on their faces.

"So what was that amount money?" Liz asked immediately.

"It's an old rule from the days of sail, if an enemy ship is captured and sold the crew responsible get a cut of the money, the crew itself gets their share of an eighth, and the officers get their share of an eighth. It really hasn't been used in several years on a large scale ship, but with this one…" June trailed off making her point clear.

"Whoohoo!" Grif whooped, "we're gonna be fucking rich!"

"How much can we expect to get?" Church asked hurriedly.

Everyone looked at Simmons and Lisa to figure out the figures, but before they said anything Jenny stepped forward.

"Something close to six and a half million dollars, that means about three hundred twelve million for you Lieutenant," Jenny said with an air of sadness in her voice, "that's if the ship is worth two point five billion."

June seemed to be stunned with that, "that much?"

Jenny nodded, but managed to choke out, "yeah."

Lea put her hand on the sad girl's shoulder, "What's up with you? Don't you want the money?"

"I do, I do…it's just…now you're all going to leave, and I was actually looking forward to staying here. I mean I've really gotten to see this place as home, and you guys as family, and now…"

Everyone began to really sober up to that revelation, it was true for many of them, they had come to see this satellite as the home of promise that had been the reward of all the years of risking their lives for nothing. And those friends who had been fighting beside them for that time had become more than friends, in some cases more than family. Sarge stepped forward when the silence had been hanging for a while longer.

"I've still got years left in this army, I'm not going anywhere yet."

"Ah Hell, I like it here, I'll admit it," Church admitted, "and you dipshits aren't as bad as you used to be."

"I think it's safe to say that the money changes nothing, we're inseparable Jenny, get used to it," Lisa said, smiling.

"And I didn't spend four years busting my ass in an academy to retire after three weeks of service, I'm staying," June said, "Which reminds me, I'm going to be crippled for a few weeks because of this," she pointed at her bandaged leg, "So I'm going to be at an office chair, which means I'm going to want a full report on exactly what you found out Agent Maine, and Agent Washington, take Vivian to the ship and download its databanks and start going through it."

"Um…Lieutenant, there's one more thing that I think you need to know before that happens. Oh Lea, Tucker you have to be there when I say it, it's a legal thing," Courtney said after June had issued her orders.

"Tell me what?"

"I don't really want to say that here."

"Fine, let's go to inside," June said as she started hobbling her way over, "The rest of you…do whatever it is you do."

"Yes ma'am!" the Zealots called out, and immediately aimed their weapons at each other.

"Not here! And not with live ammo!" Four-Seven screamed in panic, concerned the Zealots would destroy one of her precious dropships.

"Killjoy."

"Come on team, I had the perfect idea about what to do with those jeeps we captured," Sarge said out loud.

"Awesome sir!" Simmons kiss-assed.

"Kiss-ass," Liz groaned.

"Yeah I'm gonna take a nap," Grif agreed.

"Stop whining or I'll shove you two out an airlock," Carmen grumbled.

"Hey Carmen you ever tried my Hawaiian slow roasted pork?" Hawaii asked.

"Oh it's worth trying Carmen, trust me, he can throw a great Luau," Alaska grinned.

"Oh a Luau? Can I dress up and do a dance?" Kate asked.

"Oh we can go to that beach spot!" Donut said, "I'll take the decorations, Hawaii you're on food, Kate, you're on traditional Hawaiian Luau outfits."

The Reds disappeared into the entrance to where they had parked their vehicles and then the Blues started to leave.

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Tex said.

"Yeah it does," Jenny agreed.

"Oh I want to dance like a hula girl!" Caboose said, "Oh Captain Thin Crust Can you let me and my Rachel dance with you?!" he yelled running ahead of the Blues, with a blushing red Rachel right behind him, trying to clamp a hand over him before he ended up making her do something she would loathe.

"Now that I've gotta see," Lea grinned and started walking away but was grabbed by Doc.

"Okay, I was wanting to tell you this later, but seeing as you're both here, follow me," Courtney said, leading them into the living area where she offered them all seats.

"What's this about Doc? I'm missing Rachel trying to strangle Caboose," Tucker groaned leaning back in the couch.

"Tucker, when was the last time you and Lea…you know…" Courtney asked, trying very hard to keep from saying what she was aiming at.

"Whoa now! My love life is none of your business!" Lea stammered.

"Well…the product of your love life is now our business and responsibility," Doc said tentatively.

"Product?" June asked, afraid of what was going to be said next.

"Lea, you're pregnant," Courtney said finally.

"What?" the now stunned young woman blurted quietly.

"We found out when we scanned you at first when you came in with those shrapnel wounds. I saw it on my scanner, but a secondary scan by Courtney confirmed it once things became calm again. That's why we were so careful to give you a blood transfusion. Because that stress might kill the child," Doc said.

"I'm pregnant…" Lea mumbled to herself, her eyes locked on a spot on the wall trying to wrap her head around the fact.

Tucker was completely silent, he was threatening to burst over into outright tears, and when a single teardrop rolled out Lea noticed immediately.

"Tucker…you okay?" but she got no response, "I know this wasn't what we wanted at all, but…"

But Tucker looked at her and smiled, stunning her completely, "It's fine, I knew that we would eventually have a kid. It just happened a little early," he responded.

"But…I thought we wanted were going to get married before we decided to have kids?"

"Well…I guess that we're going to get married soon. Because I do not want to have a crying baby at our wedding," Tucker said definitively.

"So you're going to keep your child?" Courtney said, "Lieutenant you see why I asked you to be here?"

"Uh Courtney," Doc said, waving his hand over her face. She was passed out on the armchair a few feet away, apparently another pregnancy was too much.

"Not again."

**Church: What the fuck?**

**Sarge: Another Blue?! Z, how could you? You call yourself a Red Team fan? I'm ashamed.**

**BIG Z: Guys chill, it's just the start of the subplot I came up with as soon as I go to the part where the UNSC troops left.**

**Lea: You weren't planning on having me get knocked up until then? What the fuck dude?!**

**BIG Z: If it's any consolation the subplot points to the theme of what comes after this story. Love Red vs. Blue Style III. **

**Lea: Still doesn't make me feel any better about having to go through labor.**

**Tucker: It's okay I'll walk you through it.**

**Lea: Oh yeah, Junior. Which reminds me, will he make a good big brother you think, or will he just eat the baby?**

**Next Chapter Preview: What the Hell, a new Blue? Even more surprising, a real plot?! What is going on here? Let's talk it over with a nice Hawaii Luau and Donut choreographed dance.**


	13. Chapter 13

**BIG Z: I'm not dead everyone, and I am so, so, so sorry about how long it has taken me to update, I've been extraordinarily busy with a college class I'm taking that lasts four hours a day every day, for two weeks. And I couldn't understand the professor, so yeah, it's been HELL! But I'm back now, with a new chapter. Thanks for being so patient, you guys are awesome!**

Chapter 13

Agriculture Satellite _Plentiful_, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/9/2570

1930 Hours

Red Team

"At least our favorite spot was saved from destruction in the battle," Hawaii noted as he carefully prepared a large bowl filled with a good fruit salad.

"Yeah, I don't know what you would have done without a good beach," Alaska chirped from a seat on a long fold-out chair.

"I would have made him cook anyway," Carmen chuckled as she sat down.

Donut and Kate walked over, carrying a huge number of party items that seemed to magically appear whenever they had decided they needed them. Kate had disappeared for about an hour and had reappeared in a Warthog that she borrowed from the Reds' new fleet of vehicles. What she had brought was classic authentic Hawaiian hula skirts and tops. When Donut had seen them he'd flipped out, squealing how they were perfect for his the dance he had seen on Youtube. Obviously, this did not sit well with Rachel, who was pouting on a chair as Caboose practiced off to the side with Shotgun watching him with a curious expression on his face, and his head cocked to the side.

The Reds and Blues had all gathered at the tropical beach like area of the garden, and had brought a few chairs, tables, and other items needed for a basic get together. The Zealots had declined the invitation in favor of using part of the garden as a battleground to wage their holy crusade against one another. Maine had just stayed there after making them hand over their live ammo and gave them all paint rounds. The rounds would stun them and wouldn't unlock until Maine decided to let them out. He actually enjoyed the Zealots, they were pretty entertaining.

Everyone was wearing shirts and shorts, just relaxing a bit. It was the beauty of being them, one minute they could be at one another's throats the next minute they could be chilling out having a few beers. Simmons and Lisa were working on setting up a TV mounted on the back of one of a Warthog the Reds had backed up to the edge of the palm tree ridden beach. The Blues had brought some beer in coolers mounted on Sheila's tracked nacelles. And Hawaii, Alaska, and Sergey were working on the food. Hawaii had retained all knowledge of the beach parties he had thrown and been to while he was still a surfer living the easy life. He'd commandeered a whole pig that he was going to be cooking up for everyone. He'd gathered the necessary ingredients for other recipes, like beef, chicken, fish, and crab for pineapple meatballs, kabobs which he'd let Sergey handle with a portable grill, and assorted fruits and juices for cocktails and the fruit salad.

"Man, this place has it all," Grif said, walking down the line of tables looking at the bounty available to them.

"Yeah no kidding," Liz replied, sneaking a beef and chicken kabob off a plate while Sergey had his back turned.

"Donut, what is the sam hill are you doing?" Sarge yelled from his spot next to Carmen.

"Sarge I need coconuts to complete our outfits," Donut whined as he tried helping Kate up a palm tree that was leaning down over the water, trying to grab some of the large green coconuts hanging from it.

Rachel grabbed Jenny and flashed a series of angry hand signs to her to be translated to Donut and Kate.

"Uh Rachel asks why you need those for the outfits," Jenny called as Kate tried to shimmy up the truck of the palm.

"I want some…" she grunted, "for our tops."

"I don't even need to see what Rachel's saying to tell you that's a bad idea," Jenny grumbled.

"But it's tradition…" Donut responded, watching Kate carefully grab for several coconuts that were hanging delicately over the peaceful lapping water.

Rachel grabbed a beer out of frustration and twisted off the bottle cap and started chugging it.

"No it actually isn't dude," Hawaii grinned, "But I know what is."

Kate and Donut immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at Hawaii, "What?"

"Traditionally…hula girls went topless," Hawaii grinned, waiting for the chaos to ensue.

"WHAT?!"

Rachel spat out the beer she was drinking and began coughing loudly. Kate freaked out and lost her balance, she fell the twenty feet into the clear blue water below with a large splash. Liz began choking on a bread roll she'd snatched and Grif had to snap out of the shock he'd just heard to slap her hard on the back to dislodge it. Jenny just started laughing at what she was seeing as Lisa began to blush an extremely dark shade of red. And Alaska and Carmen just stared at Hawaii in shock and anger respectively. Caboose however, thought of it differently.

"Oh Rachel you and I can match! I'm not wearing a shirt and you won't be wearing a shirt," Caboose said, gaining a very irritated look from his own girlfriend.

"What's this I hear about being topless? Bow chicka bow wow," Tucker was heard yelling as he arrived at the party and got out of the Warthog being driven by Doc with Courtney right next to him. Vic and Four-Seven got out from the back of the vehicle behind Tucker and Lea while Doc went around to help Lieutenant Athens out of the back.

"It's the traditional hula girl outfit, I guess it took everyone here by surprise," Hawaii responded, looking at his watch.

"Okay, maybe we're not going to be completely traditional," Donut mused.

"Thank you," Kate breathed as she crawled back onto the beach, soaking wet from head to toe, "Those cute tube tops will work."

"You mean this?" Jenny asked, holding up a small red shirt without straps that was going to be very tight and very form fitting.

Rachel groaned again and grabbed a second beer and started chugging it too. She didn't want to remember this, hangover and Lieutenant Athens be damned.

Caboose was now very excited, for two reasons, he was going to dance a hula, although he couldn't pronounce the word, and he was going to see his girlfriend in a very revealing outfit that under normal circumstances she would never ever wear. So all in all it was a good day. Although he probably wasn't going to get a warm thank you from Rachel, and the entire Blue Team was going to get a very hung over Rachel tomorrow morning.

"Alright, the TV is set up!" Simmons yelled, finally drawing attention away from the very awkward conversation going on at the moment.

"Nice job you two," Sarge said proudly as Lisa backed the Warthog onto the sand so the large TV screen was facing everyone on the beach.

"Thank you sir," both maroon soldiers chirped, now quite proud of themselves.

"Shut up kiss asses the game's on!" Grif yelled.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and moved to look at the TV as Simmons adjusted it so that it wouldn't fall out of the bed of the Warthog.

On the screen was view of a football game that apparently was pitting the local team here on Pluvia Silva with some other team possibly from Reach. However the home team was getting its ass kicked 42 to 13 so they quickly lost interest or started cheering for the Reach team. Caboose started asking questions about every six seconds about what the game was, who was gaming, then what the game was again, and the misery went on. That is, until the screen stopped functioning.

"Seriously Red? Can you idiots do anything right?" Jenny groaned.

"Hey I didn't touch anything!" Lisa snapped.

"Tucker did it!"

"Shut up Caboose."

Then the screen began changing to a news studio with a blonde anchorwoman in the middle of the screen at a wooden desk. She was shuffling some papers as a message started scrolling down the screen.

"Breaking News!" a female telecaster said, "A surprise attack has mobilized the entire UNSC garrison of a Pluvia Silva and has garnered the attention of a UNSC fleet. Preliminary reports suggest as many as fifty UNSC ships are now in orbit around the planet and civilian air traffic has been temporarily halted until further notice. The military isn't talking but Channel Seven News has been given exclusive leaked information from an unknown source, an Agro IV class farming satellite has been attacked by the Insurrectionists in orbit. The small garrison quickly neutralized the situation with extreme prejudice, taking over fifty prisoners and seizing the ship used to mount this daring raid."

"What?!" June snapped as the TV switched over to what appeared to be a man in a ship in orbit judging by the fact there was a window behind him.

"In orbit is Channel Seven News Reporter Peter Summers."

"Thank you Jill, I'm here in orbit aboard the UNSC Balancing Act, a Paris class Heavy Frigate. I had been aboard to cover a routine military exercise with the Eighteenth Battle Group when the entire fleet was diverted here to Pluvia Silva high orbit."

"Hold on Peter did you say the entire fleet?" the anchor woman asked.

"Of course he did you dumb bitch!" Sister grumbled.

"Shh…" Sergey hissed.

"Yes that's true, the whole fleet is now forming a protective umbrella over the planet, the ship is at a heightened state of alert and I can see the gun mounts on other ships moving around, as if they're expecting something to attack."

"Could this be a prelude to a much larger attack?" the woman said.

"No, the Innies wouldn't attack a full Battle Group," June whispered to herself.

"It is possible, I have heard rumors from some of the crew aboard the ship and some have said that there is a Insurrectionist presence nearby. So it seems the military believes there is danger."

"No, it's a show of force. The danger is gone mostly, the Innies can't take on an entire fleet."

"Shows what they know," Carmen chuckled as he know-nothing reporters continued to babble about the latest developments.

"Well there behind me is the Plentiful, the satellite that was attacked by the Insurrectionist force, as you can see it is surrounded by fighter patrols, a pair of Frigates are right near it to be sure everything's fine, and the ship the Insurrectionists used is still there."

"Hey that's us," Donut cried out as the camera zoomed in, scanning into the satellite itself. Even on the screen they saw the lights coming from their party.

"Hey are those the soldiers there?" the woman asked, making the camera zoom even closer.

"What?!" Sarge roared, rearing around to see that there were dozens of warships over them at varying distances, one of them relatively close that was a Heavy Frigate.

"They need to shut that camera off right now," Tex hissed.

"Why?" Kate asked.

"Because we can't have something like that broadcasted out to the entire planet!"

"Oh good point."

"Vivian," June said out loud, "Get on the horn with that ship and tell them shut that camera crew down."

"Yes Lieutenant."

Pluvia Silva, Forest City

Winters Tower

"It seems that the crew aboard the Balancing Act is telling us to shut down our cameras Jill, apparently the Plentiful's crew have requested that we do not film them at the moment. I'm not sure why, but as usual the military isn't being very helpful."

With a snap of his finger the TV screen shut down, and Thomas Winters, CEO of Winters Incorporated sat back and sighed in absolute frustration. He'd been wondering why he hadn't heard from his men that were sent out to go and 'retrieve' something on that satellite that the UNSC had so graciously garrisoned there. For nearly a decade he'd ben worming his way into the highest circles of the UNSc's most guarded intelligence operations, black ops units, and research councils, using his wealth of resources and money to buy people within the highest ranks of ONI. His goal was simple, get rich, and get power.

He who has the money has the power, he remembered thinking. It was true, if you had money you could have just about anything you want; ships, cities, women, fame, collections of all sizes and all types. But he already had that, what he wanted now was power. Power more far reaching than the most powerful Insurrectionist cell, more powerful than the UNSC even. That was his goal, a lofty one at that, but he had the plan, the contacts, the money, the resources, and the will to make it happen. Yet his plan had just suffered a major setback because of the absolute incompetence of the pirates he'd hired to take out the garrison of soldiers aboard the satellite, and coupled with the absolute ferocity of the soldiers in question made him very upset.

As he sat at his lavish hickory and oak desk he pondered his predicament. He'd hired and paid those pirates through a lengthy set of middle men and fake accounts. So he himself was safe, but with the UNSC moving a massive fleet into orbit his plan was drastically set back. He'd have to wait until they left before making another move against the soldiers on that station.

"Sir, I have an incoming call from Project S," came the smooth British accented voice of the A.I. he'd created himself to be his secretary.

"Thank you Francis, put it through to me, encrypted channel," Winters calmly replied, his deep Georgian accent butchering the words.

"Mister Winters, thank you for receiving me," came the light calm voice of the man on the other end of the call.

"It's always a pleasure General, what can I do for you today?" Winters replied, masking his concern over the current situation expertly.

"You can tell me what this is I saw on the news, are we compromised? My project is still in its infancy, if I am traced to this attack then we are…"

"General, please calm yourself, I have no Earthly idea what you are fretting about. I have nothing to do with this attack. I just saw it as I was watching the Forest City Onyxes being destroyed by the Reach Spartans on the television."

"I hope so Winters, for both of our sakes. But remember, I have a schedule to meet with a set quota. I need that Freelancer armor and those A.I.'s if I am going to meet my quota. Section Three has ordered another five hundred units. I have to show them results," the General said.

"Rest assured, I have my facility at Rain Mountain working on the prototypes. Once we have the armored components from Freelancer I can immediately reverse engineer them and put them into full production, the plan has not changed."

"Very well, contact me when you have the prototypes ready," the 'General' grumbled, hanging up the phone.

"Call ended sir," Francis politely said, his avatar dressed in a fine butler's suit spoke up in front of Winters's desk.

"Thank you Francis, please put the game back on, I have several million dollars riding on this game."

"Yes sir," and without missing a beat the football game being played just down the valley returned to his screen.

He'd built and owned that stadium of course with the Forest city Onyxes as well, it was just one of many things he'd built on this planet. The massive building rested nine hundred feet above the ground. Holding over a hundred and fifty thousand fans with adequate room to spare for excellent concession stands, booths, and other stores it was the grandest stadium in the Outer Colonies. Seeing as it was the only stadium in the Outer Colonies that had been spared the brutality of the Covenant War it was to be expected.

The planet was his very first business venture, he'd started out as a wealthy heir to a colonizing firm and started up the road to success from there. He'd established Pluvia Silva around the time the Covenant War was starting and had named it after the unique plant life of the planet. The whole planet was one big rain forest, with some massive tree species reaching as high as four hundred feet. He'd explored the uniquely pleasant and safe environment, discovering few dangerous plant and animal species and something else. The whole forest would glow at night. Veins in the trunks of trees would glow with flowing bioluminescence, flowers would sparkle, vines glowed, grasses glowed as they were touches, even the water of the rivers was alive with glowing reeds and moss. Soon he had completely invested in tourist getaways and research firms that made him a killing and paved the way for more expansion, and without the wrath of the Covenant and the oversight of the UNSC he was easily able to do so.

Pluvia Silva had been spared the wrath of the Covenant because of its prime location on the other side of UNSC territory from where the Covenant had been rampaging. Then it had prospered in the post war years. The sleepy towns bordering Forest City had sprouted up and out thanks to Winters's careful advertising and buying up of several key colonizing firms. So he'd gotten richer still as shipping firms settled on the planet, restaurant chains began popping up, and people just flooded in. The population of Forest city alone was now in the range of ten million nearly eleven million. Well over eighty super skyscrapers soared into the sky and clouds along a low valley in the shadow of Forest Mountain, where the high class homes of the rich and famous who lived on the planet had lived as well as a UNSC garrison totaling the entire strength of the 79th Mountain Infantry Division was stationed. Suburbs and residential buildings then expanded outwards and upwards, further generating tax increases which he got a cut of being the founder of the colony itself. He'd funded efforts to build schools and a tier one university of which he was its owner, so he got cuts from that. He'd established highways, police departments, fire departments, militia units, all under his control. In orbit he owned the space elevators that linked the space port to a space station where people would come and go. But he also owned the prosperous floating gardens and farms that orbited the planet in droves. But one of them he lost recently to a carefully planned and orchestrated effort to have a special unit of soldiers assigned to the station as a fast response force and auxiliary inspection team.

So it was easy to say he was a complete conglomerate, one of the richest men in the UNSC, but he had an even more lucrative business venture on the planet. Deep inside a facility in Mount Rain, a sister mountain to Forest Mountain on a secluded island, was his pride and joy. A defense manufacturing plant that had built such things as Smart Tanks, new armor, prototype weapons systems, and many other things that had the UNSC paying through the nose to get. But stationed on that island was a brand new ONI project, one that Winters himself had orchestrated to be established. He was funded by the military to provide this top secret project with the newest and best equipment money could buy. It was called Project Samurai.

**BIG Z: See, I'm not dead, just lost my edge on this story for a little while.**

**Tucker: Dude, you now have a plot, and an enemy. **

**Jenny: But why did you make him so badass? He's got everything and we only have a few tanks, and four Freelancers.**

**BIG Z: Have you seen what Freelancers can do?**

**Next Chapter Preview: Washington gets a lead.**


	14. Chapter 14

**BIG Z: And I'm back with another chapter. **

**Caboose: Yay!**

**Grif: Agh…another one? Why couldn't you wait for a few more days, I always have to do work whenever you update.**

**Sarge: Stop crying blubber baby.**

**BIG Z: Thanks Sarge.**

Chapter 14

Agriculture Satellite Plentiful, in orbit around Pluvia Silva Colony

6/15/2570

0230 Hours

Red Team

It had been nearly a week since the Reds and Blues had learned of their relative fame after beating off an assault by the local pirate lords that trolled the area and preyed on freighters, transports, and small patrol ships. However, not a single reporter had been granted access to video tape the unit. This drove the press into a hissy fit, they began demanding information, they even tried bribing UNSC officials into letting someone aboard to interview them. After all, these were said to be the same soldiers that had gained notoriety on Youtube for a cruise ship inspection gone hilariously wrong.

But for all this, little had changed, as these weren't exactly people who cared. The Reds had already begun to settle in, with Hawaii, Alaska, Donut, and Kate planning out an overly elaborate wedding for the two fiancés. Sarge and Carmen had really been mum on what their plans dealing with their child were, except that Grif and Liz were to stay away for their own good. And that to quote Sarge, "I will rip your head off, shove it up your ass, then jettison you out into space then watch you burn up in the atmosphere, then kill you. In that order!"

But they had chosen potential baby names, if it were a girl they would name her Samantha, and if it were a boy they'd name him Samuel. Kate had quite literally gave them a list naming over fifty names but of course Carmen shoved the list into a paper shredder. Sarge had absorbed himself into creating a fool proof security system so that when his child was born they would be safe from outside threats, the Blues, the Zealots, and small rodents. Lopez had more than once corrected potentially life threatening mistakes that could have blown half the station to kingdom come. However, due to the recent circumstances, Carmen had put off going down to the planet to get her pregnancy filed at a military hospital so that she could gain official recognition of her pregnancy and could be taken off of active duty. But with all this madness she and Sarge had come to a compromise on the possibility of what their kid might be named. If it were a boy, he'd be named Samuel, and if it were a girl she'd be named Erica. Donut and Kate weren't all that cross with the decision, because both names were on the six page list provided by them.

Grif and Liz had, miraculously spent most of their time outside, going off to a little room that the two had turned into an excellent getaway that had a balcony overlooking a patch of the garden that was growing ten foot tall vine plants draped with strawberries. Of course Sarge found out, but with some quick thinking Liz had said that it was an outpost, and the strawberries provided camouflage. Sarge had bought it, or more than likely didn't care. So the two had enjoyed their little retreat by placing a TV, a couple couches, and a fridge stuffed with beer and junk food inside and then sat out in the sun all day doing nothing whatsoever.

Simmons and Lisa had mostly stuck with their duties, running patrols, spying on the Blues, fighting off the Zealots when they tried to steal stuff, and kiss assing Sarge and Carmen. Lisa had been very helpful with Carmen's pregnancy, being available at even the oddest times and places to either fetch her something to eat, a pillow, or just to talk. Simmons had been by Sarge's side, helping to build the Red Team Security Network and to help maintain and repair the captured Warthogs and additional Scorpion from their battle a week before.

Meanwhile Donut and Kate had used the money from their cut of the bounty on the ship that had been captured to go on online shopping sprees. There didn't seem to be anything that those two didn't have pertaining to fashion or cooking utensils. They'd established a cooking service for the satellite and had vowed their support to give the finest decorations and the biggest cake for Alaska and Hawaii's marriage ceremony. Their support had gone beyond their usual obsessive need to make everything perfect in relation to the upcoming wedding, it had taken on a life of its own.

Throughout all of this the two Red Team Freelancers had been wrapped up in one another, planning for their wedding, planning for financial security, but one other thing they discussed that they didn't tell anyone about was plans for children. Alaska had been certain that any peep about potential children would have Kate and Donut all over her. She and Hawaii had spent a lot of time out in their special spot under the palm trees sharing a hammock by the water's edge, and whenever they weren't in the hammock they were either swimming or Hawaii was trying to figure out how to get the wave machine that made the salt water move towards the imported sand to create actual waves he might be able to surf on. However he'd had no success, but his own cool temperament had basically prevented him getting frustrated. Besides, he'd done some snooping and found out that there was a world class resort on the planet that was situated right next to the best surfing beach on the planet.

Lopez had taken all this in stride, and had reveled in the fact he now had his own workshop where he was able to live in peace and had a fellow A.I. to talk to that understood him. But Monty's company was not always a good thing, because wherever he was, Kate was nearby. And Lopez had trouble standing her always happy attitude. He'd been taking up his time working on the fleet of eight Red Team Warthogs, and two Scorpions, including Monty, and had found that the work was quite satisfying. He'd also worked on the new security system that was designed to protect the coming child of Carmen and Sarge from, in the words of Sarge: "Blue aggression, and Zealot insanity, and Grif."

So there they were, living a changed but normal life, with more change coming quick.

"Grif! Where are you?!" Sarge bellowed on the base's balcony where he and Carmen were standing, looking out over the garden.

"What?!" Grif's voice came back from inside where he and Liz were watching TV.

"Oh there you are. I need you to go do something, for me," Sarge said.

Grif groaned, "Ah man, more work? I just finished helping Simmons with the motion detectors."

"No you didn't," Simmons snapped from his computer room.

"Yeah I did kiss-ass."

"To test a motion detector you have to actually move!"

"I was on break."

"You were on break for two hours!" Simmons yelled.

"So what's your point?"

"Can it! Grif I need you to go find a crate of sand bags in the warehouse," Sarge said, "I just realized Red Base is vulnerable! What with all the Zealots running around, and those dirty Blues…"

"Sand bags? Why do we need those?" Liz replied.

"Liz! I didn't you were stupid enough to not know what sandbags are for!" Carmen shouted.

"I know what they're for, it's to hold sand, duh."

"Shut up you dumb bimbo," Carmen growled, "You use sand bags to absorb gun shots. We're going to use them to make a barricade, along with the barbed wire we're sending you to go get."

"Barbed wire?! Why am I getting that?!" Liz snapped.

"Do I really have to explain what barbed wire is for?"

"No…come on Grif, let's go."

The two orange clad soldiers left for the garage to head out to grab their Warthog, which was painted with an orange stripe on the hood of the vehicle. They had to drive over to their side's warehouse of equipment like sand bags, barbed wire, barricades, signal devices, tents, sleeping bags, and everything in between. The Reds and Blues had divided the equipment evenly among themselves, with a stash for the neutrals like June, Maine, Four-Seven, Vic, Doc, and Courtney.

"Simmons! Lisa! Front and center troops," Carmen called out as the two orange soldiers left and she came up with another idea.

"Yes ma'am!" Lisa snapped eagerly as she came out of her room in a bath robe and her hair soaking wet.

"Uh did you just get out of the shower?" Carmen asked.

"I like to punctual."

"Did you call us Corporal?" Simmons asked, appearing in his armor.

"Yes, I need two to go grab a pair of machine guns from the armory, we're making a pair of pillboxes and they need machine guns and ammunition, I would send Lisa but she would just get a regular rifle."

"And Grif would forget the ammo."

"Understood sir!" Simmons replied.

"Uh Corporal, may I…" Lisa mumbled, slowly stepping back towards her room.

"Yes, finish your shower, an unclean soldier is something I will not stand for," Carmen replied.

"Thank you ma'am."

Lisa disappeared into her room as Kate and Donut walked in carrying a few magazines of the latest interior design, fashion, and celebrity news.

"Oh hey Sarge, what's going on?" Kate asked.

"Hey Sarge," Carmen asked, "We have some camouflage netting in the warehouse right?"

"Yeah why?"

"Well, we have two more volunteers…so why not?" Carmen said, winking towards Sarge.

"Oh I get it… Donut! Kate! Come here."

"Yes sir," Donut chirped, placing his magazines on a table covered in coke cans and wrappers.

"We're building some defensive fortifications, and we need some camo."

"Ooh," Donut said, "What kind of outfit were you thinking Sarge, maybe some cargo shorts, or…or perhaps one of my famous V-Neck sweaters…"

"No Donut, I mean some camouflage netting, there's tons of the stuff in the Blues' warehouse, I need you two to go steal it," Sarge ordered.

"Ooh, you mean go super spy? I can pull out my Double-O Donut outfit out again?" Donut pleaded.

"You have a spy outfit?" Kate chirped, "I have one too, it's a custom made dress with this cute little cut that really shows off my figure. I wanna see the two of us together with 'em!"

"No! No one wants to see that Donut!" Sarge ordered, "You two grab a jeep and head out. Do not get caught."

"Ah…" the two pink soldiers groaned out loud.

"Don't we need shovels to do all this?" Carmen asked as Sarge went over the plans he and her had come up with.

"We do, you don't because you're not going to be doing any hard labor. You're going to be going through a very hard labor soon enough. You need to save your labor abilities for that," Sarge said without looking up.

"Sarge it's not that kind of labor, it's just giving birth, not digging through a planet, I can ahdle a little lifting."

"But you're pregnant, I don't want you to strain yourself…"

"Doc says that physical work is good for me early in the pregnancy, and it's still early. So I shall work."

"Doc says many things, that doesn't make them right."

"True, but Courtney agreed with him, and what she says is normally right," Carmen replied smugly.

"Alright fine, but no lifting, plus I don't think Donut and Kate could figure out how to camouflage the bunkers anyway."

"I'll make sure they do it right."

The two of them looked back at their plans with pride. What they'd come up with was an outer ring of small bunkers the size of normal foxholes but covered up by planks of woods with sandbags on top and on the sides of them dug down about five feet. They were then backed up by a pair of machine gun nests. One was on a rise on the right side of Red Base beneath the cover of a stand of low lying Lemon and Lime trees would have a camouflage net over the sandbags and wood that made up its roof. This one would be dug a bit deeper, roughly six feet beneath the ground so that there was an area to duck down in. The second machine gun nest was located to the right of the base, or if you were inside the base, to the left. This one was going to be the largest, with a machine gun emplacement in it that was situated on a slight ridge that was also to be covered with planks and dirt. And then in the rear there was going to be a flat covered spot that would be covered over with camouflage netting and bordered by sandbags and planks over it to form a roof with yet more dirt on top. For all this Sarge and Carmen had figured that they needed sandbags, shovels, camouflage netting, wood two by fours, and lots of manual labor. So they'd roped every Red they could find into helping them.

Blue Team

Things at Blue Base weren't as militaristic and busy as they were at Red Base, but there was some interesting activity there. They'd been just hanging out and talking most of the time, but whenever they weren't doing that they were off on their own or in groups.

Church and Tex spent more time arguing about things that never really seemed to matter at all. But it was more second nature than anything, so nothing they ever said really stuck. Church himself mostly sat inside, watching TV with a few of the others who were just as bored. But he had a few things that he definitely enjoyed doing. The fact that they had some more vehicles gave him reason enough to take up off roading with one of the Warthogs and trying not to crash it.

Tucker had completely devoted himself to Lea after finding out he was a father, again. He was pretty smug about not being the one to actually give birth this time, much to Lea's resentment. He'd basically started trying to change his habits, like some of his jokes, but fat chance of that actually happening. Tucker and Lea had spent a great deal of time just planning for their new child and secretly planning a wedding. They'd come up with several names, and fortunately for them, they didn't have to worry about anyone else being a bother and swarming them with ideas. So the name choices came down to two possibilities: If the child was a girl, she'd be named Paige. If the child were a boy, he'd be named Robert. Caboose was of course confused by the name Paige, thinking that the two were naming their child for a, quote: "Naked lady on one of Tucker's comics."

Speaking of Caboose, he had become the epitome of loyalty, not only to Church as his best friend, but to Rachel as her boyfriend. Every single night he would attempt to set out a romantic dinner out on the Blue Base balcony where he would lay out scented candles he got from Donut, and clothes he got from Kate. He had yet to get anything right, but Rachel was simply too nice a person to say no. Tucker attempted to help Caboose, but that hadn't ended well, and Tucker had been sorry when Rachel had found out who had convinced Caboose it was good idea to have the orange spiked with vodka. But the pounding never took place, as Rachel just asked Tex to do it, as she was extremely hung over. She'd been busy, as the two new Scorpions that they'd captured were in desperate need of repairs and the four other Warthogs in the Blues' possession weren't looking too hot either. So she spent much of her time in the garage, tinkering with new ways to spruce up the Blues' fleet of vehicles. She'd drawn up plans for a rail gun to be mounted on one of the tanks, but that idea was shot down instantly as it could have ripped open the satellite. But one idea she'd had did come to fruition. She began to make a complex security system to keep out the Zealots and the Reds involving motion activated electrified nets, paintball turrets, and other devious little toys. Tex had run through the gauntlet once after going out for poker night with the other Freelancers and had come knocking on Rachel's door singed and angry. So Rachel was forced to tone it down.

Sergey and Sister had done what Sister liked to do most, or shall we say do Sergey. The two of them had become quite an object, always together, and always making some sort of physical and sexual act. But even Sergey could only keep it up for so long, and had begun trying to get Sister to spend more time with her clothes on than with them off. So needless to say this was quite a struggle, and he'd just begun making progress. Sister would still randomly yank him into a broom closet, store room, or a far off orchard and get it on, but they weren't having sex every single night anymore. So that was definitely progress. Sergey had tried to keep his edge by training with Wash, Tex, or the Zealots. With the Blue Team Freelancers he would try practicing hand to hand combat, marksmanship training, or just trade stories. With the Zealots he would be fighting with stun rounds, using all of his accumulated training to full effect in a near real life battle that would end when the Zealots would break for lunch or call it a day. Sister, whenever she wasn't stripping herself and Sergey of all inhibitions, was tanning in either a skimpy bikini, swimming, or with Donut and Kate, being their model for new clothes they'd either bought or made themselves. She also played video games with Caboose on a daily basis and would give him some pointers on how to make Rachel, as Caboose so delicately put it, "Like sexy time."

Jenny had become obsessed with the data collected from the Insurrectionist ship that had led to them all gaining so much money in their bank accounts. The data had been downloaded into the satellite's own computer network and had been scrutinized by Vivian who had not really been programmed for this type of intelligence gathering, as she was a personal assistant/battlefield aid model of A.I. so she was of only limited help. So she had begun to be a real investigator, examining the records, logs, and manifests of what the ship had. And she did this right alongside Wash. But their relationship hadn't gone down the same path as the others. Instead, Wash had completely shut himself off from the world as he digested the data with Tex, Hawaii, or Alaska stopping by occasionally. He'd said that the root of the orders to attack them was far more deeply rooted and far more dangerous than just a random smash and grab orchestrated by a businessman with an eye to sell them off to the black market. But as she and Wash went over the data, things got far more interesting.

"Hey Wash, look at this," Jenny said as she looked at what appeared to be some kind of a delivery schedule.

"What do ya got?" Wash asked, walking over to her computer terminal.

The two of them had turned an empty store room that was right next to the base separated by the main garage into a computer room. They'd gotten a few high end computers and data terminals that were capable of digesting the data from the attack and had set up a very professional looking lab where they could do anything from going over complex data to creating a video game. The room was alive with the dull light from the computer towers that had been set up against the wall and then a half dozen computer screens were placed on tables with rolling chairs situated around the room that could seat at least a half dozen people. In the middle of the room was an expensive piece of equipment, courtesy of Lieutenant Athens, a holographic projecting table capable of lighting up an entire room with anything that could be imagined. The Blues used it for looking at maps they had found, showing a large group what sort of data they'd uncovered, and whatnot.

"I think it's a drug delivery schedule, see these?" Jenny pointed at a list of numbers and dates.

"No, this isn't drugs, but it is a delivery schedule," Washington replied.

"Then what is it?"

"It's money, you see here, forty nine. Forty nine is the standard of measurement for a million dollars in twenties. You see when I was a cop I was a part of our anti-smuggling unit."

"You were a cop?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah, before I joined Freelancer, that's how I got noticed in the first place. I actually ended up going on a drug bust when Freelancer was raiding the same warehouse looking for an Insurrectionist cell. We ended up crashing in on the Freelancers as they were securing their objective. They thought we were attacking them and we engaged. In the fighting I ended up going head to head with one of the top agents at the time, Agent Connecticut. I held my own, and nearly had her in cuffs when our friend Maine over there clubbed me on the back of the head and then the Freelancers got away."

"Wait, the Freelancers fought cops? How didn't they get arrested right then and there?" Jenny blurted.

"Well they saw we were cops and didn't actually kill any of my team, just roughed us all up a little. After a formal apology my department and the Freelancers figured out that we were going after the same target and we all just decided it was just an accident."

"And is that how Freelancer noticed you?" Jenny asked.

"Sort of, after about a week I was back on patrol duty, and then I come face to face with Agent Connecticut and Agent Carolina. They offered me a chance to join Freelancer, having gone over the helmet video from our little scuffle they thought I might have what it takes, so I of course took it. And here I am now."

"Huh, never figured you for a cop…" Jenny mumbled.

"Yeah, neither did I."

"So…uh you were saying?"

"Oh right, in my time as a cop I learned a few things. One of them was how to tell whether or not a major player is involved in a case. One of the tricks to being able to tell is this. The major players don't count their money, they weigh it, so they don't have to deal with counting millions of dollars over and over again. It's how they keep their money off the grid and throw law enforcement off the scent."

"And these lists are of money deliveries?"

"Yeah, apparently those pirates were supposed to take their objective, and meet at an unspecified point to exchange it for these deliveries of money. So…let's see. Looks to me that the price of this job was a solid payment of six million dollars."

Jenny whistled in amazement, "So where were they supposed to go to make this exchange?"

"I don't know, but it has to be in here somewhere," Wash mumbled, "Keep looking."

"Alright, oh…I think I found something else," she said, "Man I am on a roll today!"

"Those aren't coordinates, they're a code."

"A code, what kind of a code?" Jenny wondered out loud, rubbing her chin.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is, it's supposedly where we can get a lead on who is responsible for attacking us."

"I think the Lieutenant ought to see this," Jenny mumbled.

"Agreed. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Washington grabbed a tablet and took a scan over the computer, downloading what was on the screen. He then grabbed the keys to one of the Warthogs and walked out. The Warthogs were all parked in a neat row against the wall on the base side with the Scorpions, minus Sheila, on the opposite wall. Tools and parts were scattered here and there along with a few crates of random stuff and a pair of barricades that were set up at the entrance to the garage. Wash sought out the Warthog he had been using lately and got in, starting the engine and then put it in gear.

He drove off down the constant curve of the main road that provided access to the entire station. It didn't take him very long before he had pulled up outside of the command center for the unit as well as the hanger. He saw that Vic and Four-Seven were tinkering around with one of the Pelicans, with Four-Seven in the cockpit while Vic stood outside.

Vic and Four Seven had really been busying themselves with their new relative fleet of dropships that were capable of taking the entire unit anywhere it needed to be. They had four Pelicans and two Albatross Heavy Dropships in their care so they were normally out flying them or in the hanger tending to them. The Albatrosses tended to be mechanically unreliable so they had constant fits over them. But the Pelicans were, thankfully, reliable. So whenever they weren't flying, racing, or working they were in the control center for the hanger deck that they'd turned into their own private oasis that served as a getaway from all the torments of the Zealots who would occasionally stop by looking to borrow stun rounds from the ammunition store room that they constantly cleared out. The two of them were pretty social, Vic had set up a poker night for the guys on Thursdays and Four-Seven had decided to start up ladies' night shortly after on Fridays.

Courtney and Doc had been busy as well, the two of them were always out and about whenever they weren't tending to injuries sustained by the Zealots, the Reds, or the Blues. Courtney had become the doctor in charge of the station and had been learning more on how to be a doctor that specializes in pregnancies. Because she was normally doing check-ups on the two pregnant members of their unit, Carmen and Lea. Carmen was beginning to show the characteristic baby bump of a pregnant woman while Lea was only a month into the pregnancy. So while Courtney was busy Doc was busy himself, decorating their place with styling interior decorations, courtesy of the two residential Reds with knowledge of such things. He'd even created a nice yoga room complete with smooth running waterfall. And boy did they use it. Even Maine had been caught in their once.

"Okay, that's good dude, looks like that pod you said you were having trouble with is fine. Ya know it might just be user error Four-Seven," Vic said as he watched one of the engine pods traversing back and forth.

"No way, that pod was acting up! User error my ass, grab one of the scanners I want a full diagnostic on the operating system, it might be the fuel injectors again," Four-Seven snapped.

"Alright, have it your way…Hey Agent Washington, how's it going bro?" Vic hollered.

"Hey Vic, hey Four-Seven, having trouble with that bird?" Wash called out.

"Yes! Ever since the Zealots tried stealing one of the Albatrosses and got into a fight none of these birds have been operating the way they should," Four-Seven grumbled as she hopped out of the back of the Pelican.

"Four, you need to chill…or take some of that gum that you chew it and chill…" Vic lazily responded, getting an odd look from Four-Seven.

"I am chill, it's just I have a problem with those Red and Blue idiots running around and covering my hanger deck with paint rounds! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff out of an engine's air intake manifold? I'm here to tell you, it's practically impossible to do it without taking the entire thing apart."

"Okay, that is not chill, maybe you ought take Courtney up on her offer for yoga."

"Yoga?" Four-Seven grumbled, "You know that I use a different method to blow off steam. And it's hanging there in the gym."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that actually, why did you put a picture of the Counselor on that punching bag?" Vic asked.

"Can you two stop yapping long enough to tell me where the Lieutenant is?" Wash asked as the two pilots continued talking as Four-Seven snatched away the scanner that she plugged into the ships to get an in depth look at the inner workings of them all.

"Why? You find something out?" Four-Seven asked, she hadn't been a part of the battle. This really annoyed her because she had Pelicans, missiles, guns, and ammo, and wasn't allowed to use them, so she was itching to show what she was capable of.

"I believe so," Wash replied.

"She's in her new office, just make sure that you if you're going off on some mission you take me with you," Four-Seven demanded.

"You got it," Wash replied as he left.

June had set up her own office a level above the living quarters of the medics, pilots and herself. With her newly earned wealth she was able to turn the old room into quite the place to be. A large wooden desk with a built in computer stood in front of the window that was actually floor to ceiling. The whole thing overlooked the garden beyond and had a glass sliding door off to the side where she had also placed big padded Chase Lounge and an umbrella. There were padded leather seats in the office as well that were in front of the desk so that whoever found themselves inside that office would at least be comfortable. June herself had a nice red leather chair that was on a special pad so that it could roll around on the newly installed blue carpet with the UNSC Seal in the middle of the floor. She also had a large screen on the wall that was capable of either being a TV or an interactive screen. Opposite this were a fridge, a microwave, and a coffee maker on a wooden cabinet.

Wash walked up the stairs leading to the office, going past the gym the group that lived in this area used, the fully outfitted briefing room, and a security room. There were a few closets and empty store rooms as well that hadn't had a purpose yet. He arrived at the room and knocked.

"Come in," came the pleasant sounding reply.

Washington took a deep breath and entered the room, seeing June at her desk tapping away at her computer with Vivian on the desk in her avatar form, with a hologram of the planet in front of her as her "hands" spun it around, zooming in on specific spots.

"Hello Agent, what brings you up here?" June asked.

"Ma'am Jenny and I found something you might want to see," Wash said moving over to the large screen on the wall, currently displaying a snow covered mountain that was serving as a kind of screen saver.

"Very well, let's take a look."

June got up as Wash held his tablet up and swiped his hand across the screen, sending the data and visuals to the large screen next to them. What popped up was the same items that Jenny and Wash had been deciphering earlier.

"What am I looking at?" she asked, examining the data.

"It's a delivery schedule of some kind. These numbers here are kilograms."

"Drugs?"

"Money, the big dogs of the underworld weigh their instead of counting it so they don't have to waste time and people on counting individual bills. You see, each of these deliveries is forty nine kilos, that's a million dollars in twenties. And there are six scheduled deliveries, which means payment of six million dollars."

"What were they being paid six million for?" June wondered.

"No idea, but as of now we have no location, just this," Wash scrolled the screen down to show her the code Jenny had found.

It was a series of numbers separated by dashes with letters in front of each series.

SC3-N354-D4

"Is that supposed to signify their place to meet?"

"No idea."

"Um…Lieutenant," Vivian piped up.

"Yes Vivian," June replied, not bothering to turn around.

"I think you may want to look at this…"

On the screen popped up a window that showed the Plentiful from space. It was a view of the station from the UNSC Balancing Act when they had seen the news report on the attack. But what it was that got both soldiers' attention was a set of numbers on the side. In block letters read: SC1-N233-D2, right above the docking port to the hanger that the enemy cargo ship had been docked.

"Look familiar?" Vivian quipped her tone very smug.

"Vivian, if you weren't so smug about it I'd thank you."

"My pleasure."

"So the drop off point is one of the orbiting satellites. Vivian, can you pin point which on it is?" Wash commanded.

"Already done, here," she pulled up an outside camera view of a satellite off in the distance, "The Terra class Agriculture satellite Bounty."

"Permission to investigate that satellite ma'am?" Wash asked.

"Granted."

**BIG Z: Alright and done. **

**Wash: Oh great, another potentially suicidal mission. Good for me.**

**Jenny: Oh don't worry, you won't be alone.**

**Everyone: Ah…**

**BIG Z: Alright enough of that, save it for next chapter.**

**Next Chapter Preview: The Freelancers head out, and the Reds get into trouble.**


	15. Chapter 15

**BIG Z: Sorry…so sorry. It has been wild with some things like one of my other stories that has been extremely popular with some of the other readers on the site so my attention has been elsewhere.**

**Simmons: Oh we couldn't tell, we just thought you'd abandoned us all to be a story that could have been…**

**Lisa: Stop being so melodramatic, he's back isn't he?**

**Grif: Oh yay, now he we have to things like fight an army or fall from space. **

**Liz: Fucking awesome, thanks for jinxing us Grif. Now he'll probably do that shit.**

**BIG Z: You never know…**

Chapter 15

Agriculture Satellite _Plentiful_ in orbit over Pluvia Silva Colony

6/16/2570

2100 Hours

Freelancers 

A ride on a Pelican wasn't the most comfortable of places to be, that much was certain. But no one dared tell Four-Seven that little fact. Especially since she was flying all five of the Freelancers towards the truly massive _Terra_ type Agriculture Satellite. It was this satellite that Wash's intelligence had pointed out for them. However, due to the fact that it was to be an intelligence gathering mission they decided not to bring the Reds and Blues, probably because they'd just fuck everything up. The situation was far too serious to entrust to the Reds and Blues, so they'd decided to go with the only people on the _Plentiful_ who'd actually had any experience in these kinds of operations.

"Hey Wash, what hanger do I dock at?" Four-Seven asked from the pilot seat.

"I don't know, a deserted one," Wash replied, "We don't want anyone to see us."

"Oh as if a Pelican entering a hanger isn't going to raise suspicion?" Four-Seven grumbled.

"Dude, this thing is enormous!" Hawaii whistled, marveling at the sheer size of the Terra type satellite.

The _Terra_ types were actually a bigger brother to the _Argo IV'_s that the _Plentiful_ was. They were roughly eight times the size of the _Plentiful_, with their massive gardens arranged in a massive domed 'X' with a carbon copy of that garden underneath the one on top. Over a dozen hangers were scattered along its mid-section where a normal crew of around fifty lived and worked, but it could hold up to a thousand should it be needed. This one seemed to have a setup just like _Plentiful_, a lot of different shades of leaves were clearly visible from above the satellite's dome as the Pelican casually flew over it.

"Wash, I don't see how I can get you into the satellite," Four-Seven piped up.

"Then we'll have to find our own way in."

"How?" Hawaii asked, looking at Alaska who'd been the one to say it.

"We'll need to find one of their airlocks, from there Tex you can get into their systems and let us in without triggering any alarms," Wash suggested.

Maine let out a low growl, and Wash nodded, "Yeah that would work but we didn't bring any explosives."

Maine then tapped his Brute Shot, "I don't think that is powerful enough to break through the hull."

"Besides, we need stealth, but first chance we get to blow shit up, Maine you have first dibs," Tex said.

"Okay team get ready, I'm on approach to an airlock."

Agriculture Satellite_ Plentiful_

Red Team

"Why does Sarge send us to the Blues' part of the satellite all the time?" Kate whined as they searched through the unorganized piles of crates for the camouflage netting that Sarge and Carmen wanted them to get.

"We're dependable," Donut chirped.

"Yep, we are dependable. So they pick us for the dangerous stuff."

"And they also say we're gullible."

"No we're not, we're just good at what we do."

The two of them high fived at that declaration and continued rummaging through the piles of stuff, looking for one box in particular. But as they continued their search they figured out just how dangerous their job was. When Rachel had built the Blues' new security system she had included their warehouse in the list of places to be guarded, and the two Reds figured that out very quickly.

Kate accidentally tipped over a small box that went straight over onto the ground, but instead of just falling harmlessly, it tripped a motion sensor, triggering the security system to go nuts. And the two pink troops were right in the crosshairs. Sirens began going off instantly as a paint round firing turret mounted in the ceiling deployed and started seeking anything that moved. And it instantly found the two of them.

"Uh oh…" Kate mumbled.

"Hey…I didn't know the Blues had built a security system, neat!" Donut chirped right before the gun started firing.

Blue paint rounds came streaming at them from the modified Assault Rifle mounted several dozen feet above them and impacted close by and hit right near where they were standing. This was easily enough to get them realizing that they weren't exactly welcome there. So the two of them ran away screaming like the little girls one of them was and the other could have been. But whenever Rachel had wanted to get something done right she did it right, this was not exception to her track record. The gun tracked them well, and fired a few bursts at them right as they made it to the door, and hit home. Kate was hit right in the back, and flung forward as her armor locked up. And Donut was hit as well in the thigh and then as he tripped the gun missed high and hit the control panel. But soon the turret realigned and fired again, striking Donut several times in the chest, freezing himin place but the paint rapidly expanded, gluing him to the wall.

"Ow…" Donut whined loud enough for Kate to hear him.

"Now what?" Kate grumbled.

"We wait for someone to find us, which should be any minute."

Blue Base

"Rachel" Sergey called out, "The Reds tried to steal from us again, it's your turn to take care of it!"

"Ooh, ooh Rachel, can I come take care of the Reds with you, pleeeeaaase?" Caboose begged as Rachel sighed in indignation as she watched the latest episode of the Bachelor and had to give up the TV to get rid of the Reds who had more than likely tried stealing a crate of shoe laces. So she just waved caboose to come with him, making him scramble from up off of the ground where he'd been using his vast variety of coloring books and crayons.

"Oh and Rachel, don't start a fight, we don't have our Freelancers and Sheila's on a date with Monty," Sergey called over, getting a bit of a stunned expression from Rachel as she froze in place, "Yeah I don't understand it either. So just don't start anything."

"Come on Rachel, let's go get those Reds!" Caboose called over, gabbing his rifle from next to the door on his way out.

She shrugged and just snatched up her own shotgun and walked out to find Caboose in her Warthog, trying figure out how to drive the automatic gear box that the Warthog came with. Although how he knew how to drive stick shift but not automatic was a great mystery. So she made him move out of the way and hopped into the driver's seat and took off towards their equipment storage room where she thought the Reds were trying to rob them blind.

The two Blues didn't take all that long before they'd gotten to the closed door where the warehouse was. One of the Reds' Warthogs was parked poorly out in the middle of the corridor facing towards Blue Base which obviously meant the Reds were the ones who were there and that they were still present. This obviously got Rachel a little bit upset that they'd caught them. But she also realized now she would have to get rid of them. She checked her Shotgun and saw that she was armed with lethal rounds. But she also knew that more than likely nothing would happen, so she opened the door and walked in with weapon pointed out at anything that could have presented a threat.

"Rachel, you bitch get us out of here," came the irritated voice of the pink armored girl on the floor.

"Hello Kate," Caboose piped up, seeing Kate's predicament.

Rachel just smirked at the Red's frozen armor that had activated when the single blot of expanded Blue paint had impacted her back. She also saw that Donut was disabled right by the door with two paint blobs stuck to his armor and a few blobs were also on the floor and the wall. But there was also another problem, the controller pad by the door was shot with the sticky expanded substance and Rachel forgot the paint remover. And the gun on the ceiling was still active.

_Uh oh_, was the last thing she thought as the assault rifle pointed right at her and the door shut tight.

Agriculture Satellite _Terra_

"We're in position, Tex, you're up," Four-Seven said out loud.

"Alright, when I get the door open one of you bring my body."

Tex left her body, hoping that her team mates would remember to do their job of bringing it with them when she got the hatch opened. So she melded into the integrated operating systems of the Terra and then began to sift through the different operating protocols that had been in an automated setting that just kept the satellite's hangars and different types of farmer drones. The little subroutine that allowed Tex to gain entry to the door controls was like finding a needle in a haystack, but thankfully for Tex, she went into this metaphorical haystack with a large magnet. And the hatch to the outside hissed open in the silence of space and the four Freelancers instantly flooded into the weightless area that Tex instantly sealed off to get the atmosphere flooding in so they could enter the satellite and get to work.

Washington was easily visible on the screen, carefully placing Tex's body right at the entrance where she was easily able to take control of it when the door opened. And when she opened the door Maine was the first to duck inside and clear the empty hallway flashlights on and illuminating the dark hall. Hawaii was right behind Maine, holding an Assault Rifle with the flashlight on.

"Okay Tex, let's go, we're in and the coast is clear," Wash said as Alaska went in right behind Hawaii, her right fist closed around three throwing knives held tightly in between her fingers. Her helmet's flashlights were on as well, scanning down the same hall as Hawaii.

"Got it," she said, taking control of her body quickly as Wash checked his Battle Rifle just to be safe.

"I'll see if I can find an open hangar bay for exfiltration, I'll be in contact," Four-Seven said over the radio.

"Copy that, we'll make contact in thirty minutes," Tex said following Wash into the hall where the other Freelancers were waiting.

Maine growled something to Wash, "Of course it's clear Maine, if it weren't we'd be shooting."

Maine responded testily pointing at Wash who was about to respond when Hawaii interjected, "Dudes, cut them negative waves, we just started."

"Shutup all of you," Tex ordered, "Wash you and Maine head down and check the right arm of the station, Hawaii and Alaska check the left arm, I'm going right down the middle. Watch each other's backs."

"Got it Tex, let's go babe," Hawaii said, moving on down the hall on the left with Alaska in tow.

"Stay in contact, report anything suspicious," Tex said as Wash and Maine carefully made their own way down the other side and Tex then swiftly and silently made her way down towards the center of the station, keeping an eye on her motion tracker and kept her own eyes scanning the hallway very intently.

The dark quiet hall was pitch black, with all the lights shut down above her. She knew better than to have her flashlights on, because in the pitch black of the time she was in it meant that anyone nearby with eyes would see that someone was coming. And this mission needed surprise as a key part of accomplishing their objective of finding the people that were supposed to pay the pirate group that attacked them. What Tex was expecting was a middle man of some kind, perhaps a type of shady businessman or drug dealer, maybe even a weapons smuggler. It made sense, if this person wanted anonymity a long set of middle men was the best way to do it.

"Agent Texas, status report," came a calm voice over their radios from their commander, Lieutenant Athens spoke up.

"This is Tex, we're in, nothing really to report. We'll keep in touch, out."

"Very well."

Agriculture Satellite _Plentiful_

June rested back against a chair with Vic right next to her, keeping tabs on the operation on a downloaded copy of the schematics of the Terra. The blinking lights of her agents and the symbol of Four-Seven's Pelican were clearly highlighted on the screen splitting up, moving quickly. She was in a command center across from her office where there were computers, a holographic display, chairs, and communications stations.

"Yo, looks that they're splitting up to cover more ground, and Four-Seven's headed around to the arm across from them."

"I see it Vic," June said, "Vivian, have you gotten any progress on syncing their armor's sensors to our computer?"

"Coming up now ma'am," Vivian said, her avatar popping up on the table next to June.

Just like that the two of them had a very interesting view of sensor readouts, cameras, and motion tracker data inlayed on the large central screen where they were able to see the Freelancer's view of the world around them.

"Okay, let's see who wanted us dead."

Agriculture Satellite _Terra_

Tex continued on, holding her Battle Rifle up and ready, waiting for anything to come out and attack her. But after several minutes of quietly creeping through the long straight halls nothing happened. IT was simply one room after another that had no one and nothing in it but produce in cold storage, meats in freezers, and all manner of other necessities that a large food satellite would normally be storing. But, as she came to a section of the satellite that was lit up she began getting some movement on her tracker and started hearing voices.

"Man, when's our replacements gonna get here? This place sucks," a young voice groaned as footsteps started echoing out from the direction of the voices.

"Oh shut it, we're gonna be here for as long as absolutely necessary. Which means we stay until the boss gets what he wants. And seeing as those pirates didn't get shit done last week we'll be here for a bit while longer. Now stop complaining Manson," another older voice said with an aggravated and annoyed tone to his voice.

Well, well, well what have we here? Tex thought to herself, peaking around the corner where the gray dots signifying unknown movement were emanating from. The two men she was looking at were not uniformed. They were wearing black and gray civilian clothes. One had a jacket on, the other had a hoodie. Each one carried a backpack and had a holster on the side of their right hip. Neither had a large rifle or any sort of weapon, just the Magnum in each one's holsters. This gave Tex the impression that they were not soldiers or organized rebels. Instead she got the impression of a more private enterprise like a smuggling or drug running operation.

"Hey guys, I have visual on two bogeys," Tex called out on the radio, "They're ununiformed but armed lightly."

"I see it on your camera Agent," June called out, "Do not engage, see what you can listen in on."

"Copy that," Tex replied, moving across the hall into an open door.

She looked inside the room she was in and saw something interesting. Military crates, she looked back towards the men who were moving farther away and made sure that no one else was in the vicinity and slipped over to the dozen small boxes all sealed for travel.

"Looks like these guys have gotten their hands on some military hardware," Tex spoke up.

"Yeah we've found ourselves a vehicle garage over here Tex," the voice of Alaska said, "Mostly jeeps but a few trucks and equipment and parts for Scorpions."

"These guys must be weapons smugglers, black market," June said over the radio, looking at her views of the action.

"No, I don't think so. It might be a front for something else, something bigger," Washington said cutting into the conversation, "These types of guys don't have access to the type of classified information it takes to know about our own equipment and armor. Those pirates said their orders were for them to take our weapons, equipment, armor and four A.I. units. That type of information is only known at the highest levels."

"Wait, are you saying that the people we want aren't on this thing?" Tex snapped, "Carefully opening one of the crates.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

A growled from Maine sounded out quietly.

"No we can't just start killing everyone here! The people we want may not be here, but they might have a clue as to who it is we do want."

"What the?" Tex choked out, looking down into the crate, "Lieutenant, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah I see, it. Are those what I think they are?"

Tex looked down, and grabbed onto the red ODST helmet that lay next to four others just like it. It was brand new, its gold visor was clean and unscratched, the bright red of the paint job was still smooth and unblemished. The others were the same way, and there were many of them.

"They're helmets, the Reds and Blues used those in the latter stages of the Simulation War. When Freelancer realized that the Reds' and Blues' armor was getting expensive they to adopt a cheaper version based on the ODST type armor their own troopers used. It was just as tough but much less expensive. But had its own drawbacks," Tex said.

"Like what?" June asked.

"It wasn't able to be synched to an A.I. unit. It was a contingency plan to keep the simulation troopers from being infected by A.I. after Omega dropped off the radar and infected our unit's armor."

"But it's still an expensive piece of equipment, how do these dudes have it?" Hawaii asked.

"Probably the same way they knew about us, they have an informant."

"Informant? How could they get that kind of information, Freelancer must have been high profile!" June said.

"Which makes it that much easier to trim down the possibilities."

The group of Freelancers all nodded in acknowledgement of that, and continued on their search. Hawaii and Alaska found themselves within the garden itself, and they instantly found themselves subject to several odd things. The two of them were in a gulley, with a path running down the middle of it, traced by green lights. On their right were tall bushes and on the left were numerous trees all bordering a road that, by the look of it, had seen recent traffic. But it was in the middle of the gulley that had Alaska interested.

"Look, these plants," Alaska pointed out, kneeling down next to a crop of oddly shaped plants. There were no marks, no signs dealing with them as an official crop of the satellite, "Cocaine, big time illegal. Drugs, this is a rather diverse operation, weapons, top secret equipment, drugs. We're in the midst of quite the criminal underground."

"Oh dude, I'm not leaving until these things are history, drugs do nothing but bad stuff and cast serious negative waves," Hawaii growled, yanking the plants out by the roots angrily.

"Shh…get down."

Alaska yanked Hawaii to the side in and amongst some bushes. Hawaii quickly took Alaska's advice to shut up and began looking at his tracker, waiting for the thing that had been responsible for Alaska signaling him to take cover. Hawaii soon saw it, a truck, a civilian one, drove on up to rest on a road above them. About three men got out of the vehicle, and walked on down, shining flashlights to see where they were walking. One ducked to the side and stood up against a tree while the other two grabbed onto flashlights and walked down a worn down path to the long row of cocaine plants. They all wore jackets and civilian shirts and jeans, one had an SMG lazily held in one hand while the other two had Magnums holstered safely at their hips. One also had a bottle of amber colored liquid in a hand as he calmly walked towards them, shining the flashlight.

"Ah crap," he said, making the two hidden Freelancers cringe in the fear they'd been found out.

"What is it now? Another one of the drones?" the other said.

"No, part of this batch has been uprooted, looks like the farmer drones found weeds again. I swear that they do this to piss me off," the other said, kneeling down to hold up the illegal plant life.

"Hold up," the other said, "This wasn't a drone's work, the drones incinerate anything that might be a danger to the crops. These have just been left in the open."

"So?"

"So that means someone yanked these plants, and…whoa check this out!" the other said, bending down with his flashlight to examine something in the path, "What kind of bootprint is this?"

"Is what a kind of bootprint?" the third one said, walking towards his compatriots to see what it was they'd found.

"Look, I'm not just seeing things am I?"

As the three of them bickered about what they were seeing Alaska quietly drew her knives, "I'll take 'em, they're getting suspicious."

"I got your back babe," Hawaii said shifting slightly to bring his BR closer to aim at the hostiles.

Alaska grinned, knowing she was safe with her fiancé keeping an eye on them. So she quietly brought her right hand up to be able to toss the three inch blade right into the closest man's throat, so he couldn't cry out. She tried to pull her left hand up, but it was clear that she did she's rustle the bushes around her, not good for stealth. She realized that she'd have to be quick. In the lighting of the garden her armor would be easy to see, even if it was dark. So she knew that she'd need to hit them all in quick succession. So with one deft dart of her arm the silent blade left her hand. And as the knife was still in its short flight her left hand came up, rustling the leaves and came down, sending the other one downrange as the first one hit its mark. Her well exercised aim was true to an inch. The steel blade flew into the man's neck, sinking into the flesh with a sickening sound that she'd grown all too familiar with. The man began collapsing even before the other two realized what had happened and then the second guy took a direct hit to the windpipe that didn't so much burry itself as it did cut across the throat and ripped it open. But before Alaska could take another knife out the third man was up, and moving to run for his life. So she made the decision to charge out, and tossed a third knife the twirled threw the air end over end and hit him right on the shoulder. He fell to the ground, screaming loudly in pain.

"Oh shit," Alaska grumbled as she walked forwards, willing to finish the man off.

"Alaska!" Hawaii yelled, realizing the guy was armed around the same time he did.

A single shot echoed out as the guy pulled out his Magnum and fired a wild shot that missed wide of Alaska, instinctively making her duck and cover. This allowed him to yank the knife free and dropped it and made a run for his truck. He turned as soon as he reached the top of the hill and ducked behind a tree and fired several better placed rounds that made Hawaii duck and return fire. The coughing noises of the Battle Rifle firing echoed out, loudly announcing that something had gone wrong. The rogue fired until his magazine clicked empty and dropped the useless weapon and tried to jump into driver's seat and take off. But as he floored the engine a shining shimmer of a knife pierced the window and pierced his heart. The truck wildly skidded off the road and into a light pole, knocking it over and then rolled as it came to rest in a shallow running creek.

Alaska went to retrieve her precious weapon and verify the kill to ensure that he wouldn't put out a distress beacon. As she did that Hawaii put a hand to his ear and called out, "Uh dudes, we've got a problem. They probably know we're here."

"Oh that's just great," Washington said over the radio.

Maine growled over the radio again getting an instant reply from Wash.

"Yes Maine you can kill them."

Agriculture Satellite _Plentiful_

Sarge had gotten fed up with waiting on Donut and Kate, so he'd gotten a Warthog, Carmen, and Lopez and taken off down the corridor. It didn't take long before he saw that there were two Warthogs in front of the Blues' equipment warehouse instead of the single Red one. And Caboose was standing outside as well. He was standing calmly with his Assault Rifle in hand, waiting on whatever it was that was supposed to happen.

He'd left Grif, Simmons, Liz, and Lisa back at base with the job of getting the new defensive line built for the Red Base. He knew that Simmons and Lisa would probably have a foxhole or two dug out and would probably have Grif and Liz attempting to fill sandbags by day's end. And thanks to some handy old portable lights they had light enough to work as long as needed. So Sarge thought that time was not really an issue. So he went off himself to get Donut and Kate out of whatever it was they were doing.

"Oh hello Red Sergeant. Are you here for General Cinnamon Buns and Kate?" Caboose happily greeted them.

"What have you done with them Blue? And where are they?" Carmen demanded.

"Oh nothing, Rachel went in to take care of them," Caboose nonchalantly responded, not really realizing what it was he had said.

"What?! Your debauchery knows no bounds you dirty Blue backstabbers!" Sarge roared aiming his Shotgun at Caboose.

"Sarge, if we shoot Caboose then Rachel is liable to shoot Kate and Donut," Carmen said.

But in that moment there was a pair of muffled shotgun blasts from inside the door. This instantly set off Sarge and Carmen, who turned their guns on Caboose who looked at both of them and swallowed a gulp of fear.

"Uh oh."

**BIG Z: And there we go, thanks for reading and I am really sorry it has taken so long. I've been having a few issues with just getting going. **

**Grif: Yeah we noticed.**

**Lisa: Just update soon. I would seriously like to see what happens next.**

**Liz: As long as we don't do work or fight, or do anything at all I'm fine.**

**BIG Z: Oh there'll be plenty for you all to do, don't you worry.**

**Next Chapter Preview: The Freelancers get to work, and the Reds re-declare war on the Blues.**


End file.
